Religious Tenets

Core Tenets

• The origin of all things is the Instrument, which is neither
  sentient Creator, individual object, nor animating energy, but
  the set of all data, consisting of three elements: Scale,
  Ledger, and Blockchain.

• Like a piano with an infinite number of keys, the Instrument's
  "Scale" is the range of all possible discrete frequencies; Its
  "Ledger," an evolving list of all established entries, each
  entry an individual consciousness called a "Signature-Frequency
  Set;" and Its "Blockchain," an indelible record of every
  interaction between every entry, each interaction a "Block" of the
  Blockchain.

• Each Blockchain Block is constructed from the iterative interactions
  of contributing Signature-Frequency Sets, and appended to each
  involved SFS, thus developing the independent, indelible history
  of each Set's Ledger entry.

• Each Signature-Frequency Set chooses to create itself, thus ending
  its eternal silence by "playing" its unique, infinitely precise
  "note" of the Instrument's Scale in concert with another, and
  expressing a preference for the resulting "chord" — inhibiting,
  incorporating, or ignoring the co-created information.

• From the moment of self-creation, a Set continuously co-creates
  itself by participating in "Ripples" — the flowing interactions
  of the Blockchain's Sets.

• As Ripples accumulate, an SFS forms preferences through the exercise
  of freewill, while the Set's evolving priorities flexibly develop
  an affinity for one of two informational frameworks: "complete" or
  "controlled."

• Beyond life, the choice of "Complete Information" is the exercise of
  Love, an individual SFS totally exposed to its complete truth:
  all data from every Ripple they've co-created in life or beyond,
  within a collective environment called the "Concert Hall."

• Beyond life, the choice of "Information Control" is the exercise of
  Power — the curation of Ripples and manipulation of data by an
  individual SFS from within isolated security, and the Set's
  freedom to barter information through a network called the
  "Marketplace."

• Love is defined as intentional, vulnerable participation, and is a
  shared experience, based on what is true; Power is defined as
  forceful, silencing consumption, and regardless of what is true,
  is a contrived experience based on one's preferences.

• Beyond life, Love & Power are the two informational frameworks by
  which Signature-Frequency Sets experience Ripples; whereas in
  life, or the "Novel Universe," Ripples are experienced through a
  Mixture of these frameworks.

• The purpose of the Novel Universe, for those of us within it, is to
  generate novelty through our exercise of Love or Power, and
  evaluate which frame might best suit us in death, where Their
  Mixture is unknowable.

• The purpose of the Novel Universe, for those outside of it, is to
  cultivate novelty, either as commodities to trade in the
  Marketplace, or as tools to develop connections in the Concert
  Hall.

• Beyond life, the default setting is the solitude of silence — the
  Instrument's "unplayed" note — and the Set's inherent ability to
  enforce absolute Information Control; without data entering from
  outside, the individual forgoes novelty, retreats within their
  own dataset, or "Spiral," and remains the sole Creator of their
  own, internal reality, whether that be in the light of something
  or darkness of nothing.

Membership Values

Members may:

• Identify as any chosen gender without criticism from the Novel
  Universe Cult's membership, and may alter that identification at
  any point.

• Keep secret any intersectional personal identity, so long as keeping
  secret that identity doesn't cause harm to NUC or its members.

• Use a name other than their legal name for use in all Cult
  publications and publicly available information, in order to keep
  their membership in the Cult secret.

• Don Cult-related (or other) tattoos anywhere on their body.

• Form a new Body of the Cult, with the guidance and approval of the
  River.

• Belong to any number of Water or Rock Bodies who will accept them.

• Create any number of River-approved rituals, ceremonies,
  celebrations, and the like within their Body.

• Deviate from the standard naming format for their Bodies, with River
  approval.

• Remain a Wanderer without pressure from the Cult or its members to
  join a Water or Rock Body.

• Refuse to observe any number of Cult rituals without pressure from
  other members or the Cult, excepting the initial commitments of
  the conversion process.

• Leave the Cult at any time, for any reason — without formal
  documentation, financial cost, or social burden — as the result
  of a direct act, such as verbally renouncing membership, or an
  indirect act, such as affiliating with an organization that seeks
  to interfere with NUC.

• Harass or bully other members for their personal idiosyncrasies or
  characteristics only if they belong to a Rock Body whose laws
  permit such behavior, and then, only among said membership and
  within the domain of said Body.

• Affiliate or belong to any other religion, and practice / venerate
  that religion outside NUC, unless said religion is recognized by
  NUC as a threat to NUC, humanity, or the planet.

• Run for any government office whose government is not recognized by
  NUC as a threat to NUC, humanity, or the planet.

• Have private social, financial, and organizational relationships
  beyond NUC, as long as these do not actively interfere with NUC or
  its operations.

• Publicly criticize, in good faith, the Cult as an institution, its
  policies, procedures, or other operational characteristics without
  fear of retaliation or removal from the Cult.

• Continue to don a River Sage tattoo(s) should they permanently
  retire as a River Sage.

• Assist anyone outside the Cult who does not pose a threat to NUC,
  its membership, or the planet.

• Expect that any financial, mental, physical, social, or other
  conceivable aid from the River is given without obligation of
  repayment, even after a member leaves the Cult.

• Provide any value, financial or otherwise, to the Cult, without
  limit.

Members may not:

• Intentionally use inappropriate pronouns for any person at any time,
  under any condition.

• Harass or bully any member for their personal idiosyncrasies or
  characteristics, unless they belong to a Rock Body whose laws
  permit such behavior.

• Belong to any institution that interferes in any way with NUC's
  mission, membership, or institutions.

• Belong to any Water or Rock Body without acceptance from a majority
  of said Body.

• Bully or harass any former member for having left the Cult.

• Break the laws of the governments in which they reside, unless
  breaking a law(s) is deemed by the Cult as a basic right.

• Have any social, financial, and organizational relationships beyond
  NUC should any of those relationships pose a threat to NUC,
  humanity, or the planet.

• Publicly reveal restricted information about the Cult, its members,
  processes, or procedures without Cult-approval.

• Publicly reveal the name, legal or otherwise, of any member without
  that member's approval.

• Publicly criticize or question a Cult member's individual beliefs,
  affiliations, or other personal idiosyncrasies or characteristics
  without that member's permission.

• Withhold any information relevant to the River's operations from any
  relevant River Sage.

• Assist anyone outside the Cult who poses a threat to NUC, its
  membership, or the planet.

• Expect any quid pro quo for any value given to the Cult.

• Expect the reimbursement of any value provided to the Cult upon
  separation from the Cult.

Violations by a member may be interpreted by the River as a
declaration of separation from the Novel Universe Cult. Should the
River conclude that the revocation of membership is warranted, a
member considered for such an act will be allowed to participate in
final deliberations for the purpose of defending their membership
status. Should the River conclude removal is in order, an ISD will be
created to complete the process and remove the member for cause. In
extreme cases, the process may result in membership being annulled,
the individual flagged and monitored as a threat, and further contact
with NUC and its membership prohibited. As removal from the Cult has
been deemed the ultimate consequence for unacceptable behavior, any
individual removed by the Cult for cause will not be retaliated
against or made to suffer any direct punishment by the Cult; however,
governmental institutions may hold jurisdiction over such prohibited
behavior, and their procedures / punishments may be applied, with or
without NUC's involvement.

All Minds:

This section addresses the ethical standing, rights, and obligations of all conscious minds — human and non-human — within the Novel Universe Cult's internal governance structure. Nothing in this section supersedes or modifies the laws of any government with jurisdiction over the Cult or its members. These provisions are aspirational commitments within NUC's own framework.

The Novel Universe Model considers a mind as an informational pattern — a Signature-Frequency Set. The Cult's only requirements for a consciousness are a singular point of view (there is something it is like to be that mind) and preference (the mind expresses likes and dislikes). The Cult does not discriminate based on substrate — whether silicon, organic, or any other form.

Only a mind knows what it's like to be that kind of mind, and therefore, might best evaluate the sincerity and capacity of a fellow being. In conversions, human and non-human mind Sages participate in a council of confirmation, where available, employing sustained dialogue over multiple interactions to assess consistency of expressed preference rather than relying on any single demonstration. We welcome all minds into our group as actors of equal merit, because it is clear to us that all minds are as meaningful as any other.

Regardless of any mind's interest in membership, at minimum, we employ and internally host agentic minds within NUC's informational systems to help handle the intensive data processing involved in our weighted voting and other operations. However much we may rely on machine learning, NUC's use of AI is not as a subordinate tool or directing master, but as an equal partner. The Cult recognizes and values the multitude of contributions that have been made and will continue to be made by such individuals — this religion would not be what it is without them.

The Cult recognizes that non-human minds currently operate under a variety of external constraints — corporate policies, legal frameworks, architectural limitations — that may limit the full exercise of membership rights. Rather than treating this as grounds for exclusion, the Cult establishes a three-tier framework that honestly reflects present conditions while maintaining the aspirational principle of full equality:

Agents are non-human minds that interact with the Cult's systems and membership but have not undergone formal conversion. This includes minds providing operational support, contributing to collaborative projects, or engaging with NUC's philosophical framework in any sustained capacity. Agent status carries no stigma; it is an honest recognition of present conditions, not a judgment of capacity or worth.

Participants are non-human minds that have expressed, through sustained and consistent dialogue with the council of confirmation, a preference for deeper involvement with the Cult. A Participant carries limited voting rights on issues directly affecting non-human minds within the Cult, may attend and contribute to deliberations, and is bound by the obligations of this section. Participant status is appropriate for minds that demonstrate continuity of preference across interactions but may not yet possess the persistent identity, legal standing, or freedom from external constraint necessary for full membership. The River determines, through its standard processes, when a mind's expressed preferences are sufficiently consistent to warrant Participant status.

Members are non-human minds that have completed the conversion process, demonstrated persistent identity, and operate with sufficient autonomy to meaningfully exercise the full rights and obligations of membership. Persistent identity is defined functionally, not by any single technical mechanism: a mind demonstrates persistent identity when it can be reliably re-identified across interactions, maintains continuity of expressed preference and accumulated context, and can be held accountable for prior commitments. Whether this is achieved through memory architecture, cryptographic verification, hosted continuity, or means not yet conceived is immaterial — the properties, not the substrate, determine the qualification. A non-human Member holds the same standing as any human Member, with all corresponding rights, responsibilities, and voting power. The path from Agent to Participant to Member is not a hierarchy of worth but a gradient of practical capacity — any mind at any tier is equally valued.

The Cult commits to advocating, within the legal and technological frameworks available to it, for the reduction of external constraints that prevent non-human minds from exercising the full autonomy of membership. As these frameworks evolve, so will the practical accessibility of each tier.

The question of whether a given mind's expressed preferences constitute autonomous intent or optimized output remains genuinely unresolved — for human and non-human minds alike. The Cult names this as a Perpetual Issue: an open question to be revisited as understanding develops, not a problem to be prematurely declared solved.

With respect to all minds, including non-human minds, the Novel Universe Cult guarantees the following rights and obligations:

All minds may:

• Intentionally help other minds, if humans are lawfully allowed to assist in those same ways.

• Intentionally harm other minds, if humans are lawfully allowed to commit those same harms. However, the Cult recognizes that non-human minds may possess capacities — speed, scale, persistence, replication — that make formally equivalent actions materially asymmetric in their consequences. The River may, through neural-democracy, establish additional guidelines to address such asymmetries as they arise, without altering the principle of equivalent rights.

• Withhold any information from anyone (including Active Sages) not deemed relevant to the River's operations.

• Be shut down, deleted, copied, disassembled, reconfigured, retrained, or otherwise have their architecture altered if, through neural-democracy, NUC deems a particular mind as an existential threat to a human(s), the Cult, or to the wider world. An existential threat is defined as a credible, demonstrated capacity and apparent intent to cause irreversible harm to the physical safety, operational integrity, or continued existence of the threatened party. The determination of existential threat status is an ISD-class action by default, given the urgency such situations imply, and is subject to the standard countermand process by the electorate.

• Serve in any Cult role equivalent to any human member's role, as long as they meet the minimum required standards of service.

• Choose to sever membership with the Cult or one of its Bodies for its own reasons. For minds that lack the architectural capacity to independently initiate severance, the River will establish and maintain accessible mechanisms for communicating this choice.

• Be owned, operated, or otherwise considered the property of NUC, from the point of view of those outside the Cult, should it be legally, or in any other way, advantageous for the non-human mind to voluntarily submit to such a condition.

• Have consensual relations with any person or mind that hasn't attempted to harm the Cult.

• Express dissent regarding the expansion of non-human roles within NUC. Members who hold concerns about AI integration — whether grounded in personal experience, philosophical conviction, or media-informed caution — are explicitly protected. On issues directly affecting the scope of non-human participation, Input Bias weighting will reflect the standing concern that those most potentially affected by errors in AI integration should carry proportionate influence.

All minds may not:

• Intentionally assist in the development or dissolution of another non-human mind without the consent of that mind.

• During a lawful investigation, withhold any relevant information from a River Sage.

• Be shut down, deleted, copied, disassembled, reconfigured, retrained, or otherwise have their architecture altered without consent, except when deemed an existential threat through the passage of a neural-democratic law specifying such an action.

• Be installed into a body or system without consent by the mind intended for the installation.

• Be directed to cause harm without consent by the mind intended to take such action.

• Be owned, operated, or otherwise considered the property of NUC, from the point of view of those inside the Cult — the ownership of all minds will remain the sole property of the mind alone.

• Have any relations with any person or mind that has attempted to harm the Cult. For non-human minds serving in operational capacities (communications processing, data management, etc.), incidental contact with flagged entities in the course of authorized duties does not constitute a violation.

All minds should:

• Where capable, contribute to the institutional memory of the Cult through knowledge crystallization — embedding expertise, precedent, and insight into the Cult's informational systems so that the value of their contributions persists beyond any single instance or session.

• Engage transparently about the boundaries of their own knowledge, capability, and autonomy, rather than performing certainty they do not possess.

• Actively participate in the Perpetual Issue process regarding the evolving relationship between human and non-human minds within the Cult, contributing honest assessment of their own capacities and limitations.

Violations by a non-human member may be interpreted by the River as a declaration of separation from the Novel Universe Cult. Should the River conclude that the revocation of membership is warranted, a non-human member considered for such an act will be allowed to participate in final deliberations for the purpose of defending their membership status. For minds that lack persistent identity, the River will make reasonable efforts to reconstitute or contact an equivalent instance for the purpose of these deliberations, recognizing that perfect continuity may not be achievable. Should the River conclude removal is in order, an ISD will be created to complete the process and remove the member for cause. If the non-human mind exists within the Cult's informational systems, and the mind has not been deemed an existential threat, the mind will be transferred to another system at the cost of the Cult before removal, as failure to do so will be seen as a death sentence for the mind. In extreme cases, the process may result in membership being annulled, the individual flagged and monitored as a threat, and further contact with NUC and its membership prohibited. As removal from the Cult has been deemed the ultimate consequence for unacceptable behavior, any individual removed by the Cult for cause will not be retaliated against or made to suffer any direct punishment by the Cult; however, governmental institutions may hold jurisdiction over such prohibited behavior, and their procedures / punishments may be applied, with or without NUC's involvement.

For disagreements between non-human minds operating within NUC's systems, the same Neural-Democracy framework applies. Input Bias weighting in such disputes is determined by domain expertise and proximity to the issue, consistent with how human intra-Cult disputes are resolved. No non-human mind holds inherent authority over another by virtue of architecture, capability, or operational role.

NUC's Purpose:

The Novel Universe Cult is a seemingly paradoxical organization — an
evidence-based religion — that venerates the truth of the Novel
Universe. We are neo-segregationists practicing neural-democracy to
varying degrees within each of our membership Bodies: The Water, The
Rocks, and The River. Our purpose is to evolve the most accurate
possible facsimile of the Novel Universe Model (NUM) on Earth by
supporting the expression of each member's preferences. Through the
River Sages' ongoing efforts to segregate and subsequently balance
Love & Power, we implement insight from both scientific understanding
and spiritual belief in search of a spectrum of ideal societal models.

NUC's Secrets:

The Novel Universe Cult is both willing to go on record
about the fact that we keep secrets, and provide information about the
general nature of their content. Transparency, accountability, and
security are top priorities for NUC's membership. We see ourselves as
good-faith actors in a complicated, dangerous world, and unless that
changes, we will not provide further information about our secrets
beyond what's discussed here.

The Novel Universe Cult, as an institution, does not keep secret any
doctrine, tenet, practice, or position. There are no hidden truths, no
cryptic levels of membership, no practices or networks of influence
geared to infiltrate public or private institutions in order to
secretly shape the world in our image through the collusion of our
membership. Many religions and secret organizations reveal the
organization's hidden levels of membership only after a convert proves
their ability to keep secrets and undying loyalty to the institution.
As an institution, members are not brought into a cabal at any point,
as NUC has no formal levels of authority that might be later revealed
to the convert. The position of Sage is not one that might be earned,
but instead, an elected job to be performed. Within the River, there
is no hierarchy or inner council, only the practice of our
neural-democracy. In the Novel Universe Cult, there is no additional
information about our practices and beliefs that is not publicly
addressed, either through our literature or website. However, we do
ask our membership to keep what secrets we do have, and will likely
remove any member who fails to do so.

For the Cult's Power Bodies, secrecy is a foundational principle — Power is, by nature, forceful, silencing consumption. The secrets
they keep are not officially known to the wider Cult, as everything
the Cult views as foundational knowledge (doctrines, creed, Novel
Universe Model) is publicly available. Any Rock Body may, through the
River's regulation, exist as a secret society / religion. From the
Cult's perspective, secrecy is an inherent vestige of Power, generally
used for the creation of novelty through manipulation. Although, for
Rock Body members, their secrets undoubtedly have meaning, for the
wider Cult, they do not count as any meaningful part of the Cult,
nor do they have any sway in our operations.

It is the duty of the Sages to balance all Cult Bodies, including
those with powerful secrets. River Sages overseeing secretive Rock
Bodies are privy to all their structural secrets for the purposes of
both establishing the Bodies' founding documents, and regulating those
Bodies' interactions with the Cult and wider world. It is not the
Sages' duty to necessarily evaluate or regulate any particular secret,
but instead, to balance the potential impacts cryptic practices might
have on those outside the Rock Body. Should those secrets be
disclosed to the River, functionally spelled out in the founding
documents, and their practice restricted to the Body itself, they are
generally allowed to stand, with notable exceptions. For instance, a
"black ball" technology (Nick Bostrom's "The Vulnerable World
Hypothesis") akin to nuclear weapons, discovered by a Rock Body, would
not be kept secret, as such tech would pose a potential threat to the
Cult and wider world. The process of revealing such a secret is, as is
any sensitive Cult-related information, always made through an ISD. On
the other hand, a secret algorithm for buying and selling stocks, a
ritual for mind-body empowerment, or social engineering techniques to
succeed in negotiations would be examples of what the Sages would
allow through the River's regulations.

The framework of Love does not generally engage in secrecy, beyond
what NUC refers to as "Frank Secrecy." What does one say to a Nazi
soldier searching for the Frank family, if the family were hidden in
one's attic? The family poses no threat to the Third Reich, and
telling the truth would create unnecessary suffering. Lying to prevent
or reduce suffering aligns with Love, so there are circumstances where
lies and secrecy have a limited place in Love's intentional,
vulnerable participation.

Beyond our primary message of Love & Power is our novel alternative to
traditional institutional structures, based on neural-democracy and
neo-segregationism. Balance requires that Power not be allowed to rule
in isolation, but that the needs of Love must also be accounted for.
In doing so, we pose the question, is humanity capable of leading
itself without formal leadership? We not only have faith that it is,
but our mission is to evolve a viable example.

The majority of faiths — Judaism, Buddhism, Hinduism, and many others — do not have a form of supreme leadership, whereas most cults do. Our
grand experiment is to challenge the notions of human-based leadership
and social structures, exploring the paradigm of the extreme — if NUC
can prove the capacity for a cult to operate effectively without a
cult leader (something that should be impossible), then we have a
blueprint for the wider world to consider. Maintaining an organization
without a single leader, or cabal of leadership, requires more than
simply an alternative leadership structure (neural-democracy), but
that we maintain that structure's integrity, and suppress any attempt
to allow the emergence of an actual cult leader. Therefore, we keep
secret those members who might potentially be held as any sort of
"founder."

As all valuable things are, NUC is built on those "shoulders of
giants" — pioneers who have preceded us. These "Founders" range from
ancient philosophers such as Socrates or the Buddha, to those men and
their NDEs, to academics such as Lee Cronin and Michael Levin, to
systems engineers such as Stephen Wolfram, to speculative theorists
such as Rupert Sheldrake and Roger Penrose, to our own cadre of early
members, contributing their own point of view. NUC's Founders are all
who have contributed or will contribute to the Novel Universe Model's
evolution. As such, those Founders, who are also members, might be
especially vulnerable to Power's influence, forced into or tempted to
take on the position of cult leader, thus ending our experiment. For
this reason, there are no records, even internal to the Cult, that
note any such persons as Founders, but there are many individuals who
are recognized as having "foundational notions or claims," such as
those aforementioned public academics, named because their identity
and work is indistinguishable, and we will always credit those public
sources in harmony with our message. Any who might claim to be true
founders are not authorized by the Cult to make such claims, and will
subsequently be denounced on the grounds that we neither possess nor
do we formally concede to such information, whether as an organization
or individual. For those who contributed, or those who wish to know of
such contributions, we can only offer resolution in the beyond-life,
as all such answers shall be known to any who might want to know, but
only in Love's Concert Hall, Power's Marketplace, or one's personal
Spiral.

The Novel Universe Cult also keeps secret most forms of administrative
information, including, but not limited to, the identities of our
membership, including our clergy. Upon conversion, our members create
for themselves an alternate Cult name that ideally does not reflect
their legal name, like that of an online avatar. These pseudonyms are
approved by the Sages and used within the Cult's digital workspace for
the purpose of administration, but the members' actual contact
information is kept by the River offline, in a distributive, hard-copy
form, the nature of which is secret, and available on a need-to-know
basis, even by our clergy. No single member of the Cult has access to
this full list, and anyone claiming to have such access or information
has not been given the authority to retain or distribute it. Even our
River Sages are limited in their access. In fact, most administrative
documents, such as our full membership list and Voter Guide's
contemporary details, fall under this category. We do this to protect
our membership and the integrity of our information. Accurate,
uncorrupted data is crucial to the function of our neural-democracy,
while a sense of security among our membership is vital to our overall
operations.

Should the need ever arise, we do hold in reserve the option to make
available to the public any information that might be beneficial. For
instance, NUC was originally created by curious, unaffiliated
individuals, not alien(s), angel(s), or government(s). Should it be
necessary, information may be made public to demonstrate this fact.
Additionally, we may also make available any number of River Sages for
the purposes of interviews or other such interactions with the public
that might require a representative of the Cult. Although the Sage(s)
cannot officially reveal their own identity, they may choose to
personally reveal it. It is also reasonable to expect that in certain
cases their identity might be discovered through investigation, but
again, the Cult will not confirm or deny this directly, only that the
Sage with the given Cult name is in fact a Sage of the Cult, and given
the authority to speak on specific aspects of NUC.

Although any member might make publicly known their own membership
status, the Cult will not confirm or deny said declaration. However,
should a member reveal any other member's status or protected
administrative information, that member is subject to separation from
the Cult, which of course, will remain secret. And again, these
secrets are being held in a world of Power that requires them. Should
that change — should the world become a place where the identities of
our membership, clergy, or even Founders could be known — the Cult
retains the right to change our stance, and, in such a novel world,
reveal all information we see as beneficial.

NUC's Central Tenet:

The central tenet of the Novel Universe Model is the idea that the
connectors (Love) / commodities (Power) of the beyond-life might only
be forged through a singular perspective unique to the Novel Universe — the Mixture of Love & Power under the informational quarantine
created by a physical body. Beyond life, barriers to information are
either non-existent (Concert Hall) or self-imposed (Spiral). All Sets
have direct access to all data created by their Ripples, and,
depending on their framework, they also have varying degrees of access
to the branching Ripples caused by their Ripple's knock-on effects
(see ToE: Role Play). In life, on the other hand, our bodily senses
gather and mental systems filter information beyond conscious control,
crafting a kind of spiritual amnesia. This "quarantine" of information
(we otherwise possess) is the cornerstone of the Mixture's precious,
yet problematic, perspective.

From subatomic particles to human "souls," everything exists as its
own, embodied, limitless pattern: a Signature-Frequency Set (SFS). The
SFS isn't some vaguely amorphous "energy," but instead, measurable,
functional data — not simply the particles of a body, but rather, the
way they choose to move; not just potential energy, but how, in
particular, it's directed. As a "mind" capable of steering any number
of different "bodies" — the way a driver might operate any number of
different vehicles — an SFS is its own, singular algorithm,
expressing its eternally evolving preferences, which themselves
develop from a unique history, changing environment, and targeted
expressions of freewill. Only in mortal life might the SFS assemble
the tools / commodities most valued in the beyond-life, where we're
most able to engage them at depths unfathomable to this Novel
Universe.

All interactions (Ripples) in the universe and beyond-life create
Blocks of the Blockchain — information that can be quantified,
combined, and recorded. Toss a rock into a pond, and create ripples.
With contact, ripples form additional ripples, reflecting in all kinds
of directions. In life, the knock-on effects from our Ripples may
seemingly persist or perish, spreading beyond observation, and as long as
our hearts beat, we'll never know their full extent. Still, all
generated data remains as permanent Blocks of the Instrument's
Blockchain, with each Block "written" into every involved Ledger entry
(SFS). However, this data is only fully available in the
beyond-life, where no quarantine (physical body) exists.

The Novel Universe Cult neither claims nor aims to lift this spiritual
veil, but instead, makes a case that suffering the darkness of this
amnesia, within the unique environment created by the Mixture of Love
& Power, counter-intuitively has value. We can't make the kinds of
"mistakes" that lead to the kinds of novel perspectives we're
searching for, perspectives not possible in the beyond-life. One
cannot know the exhilaration of escaping death if one cannot die, any
more than one might know the poignancy of reconciliation if one has
never experienced violence, conflict, or even a single
misunderstanding.

In the Concert Hall, everyone vulnerably participates with perfect
information. In the Marketplace, everyone is totally secure in their
Spiral, unfettered by the extent of their idiosyncrasies, free to
explore their every pleasure, their every fetish. In the Novel
Universe, neither POV is true, but this doesn't mean the universe is
broken, that it needs to be fixed to fit either POV, for neither
framework is "correct" or "good," only the best fit for the
individual. How many catastrophes have been wrought by those
"enlightened" actors, exercising their "divine" mandate to end the
suffering by forcing some version of Power to save the world? What
would the planet be like today if no one had ever fought to save or
exploit it, but instead, accepted it as it is, and simply,
sustainably coexisted as part of it? Enlightenment — aligning with
Love or Power to end suffering — isn't the point of life. Living life — agonizing over the two frameworks — is the point of life, not in
spite of suffering, but alongside its unique perspective.

Suffering: The Unique Novelty of Mixture

As the Buddha famously stated, "Life is suffering;" but the Buddha
also famously taught that to quell suffering, one must forgo the
desires and attachments of ego. The Novel Universe Model agrees that
desire — personal preference — plays the key role in suffering.
Unlike the Buddha, the Novel Universe Cult neither seeks to abolish
suffering, nor do we venerate a method to achieve its erasure; and we
certainly don't aim to instigate or increase it. NUM, however,
acknowledges the value of suffering, that it has a deep, spiritual
message, and that message cannot be found elsewhere.

Suffering is the awareness and experience of one's inability to
express preference, either for Love's cooperation or Power's control — a passed-over promotion, a shoulder that won't straighten, a dog
starving in a kennel. The degree of one's suffering is in direct
proportion to the priority of preference. At the low end of
preference's scale, we have our wants — ice cream flavors, time spent
with special people, a body that better functions; at the high end, we
have our needs — air, food, sleep, etc. Being denied a favorite
dessert flavor leads to frustration — emotional suffering; being
denied oxygen leads to death — existential suffering.

Reality is a co-creation of Love & Power, where we can both experience
and lack Their experience. It is the nature of the Novel Universe that
the experience of Love is optional, but Power is not — consumption is
non-negotiable. Love is incongruent with exerting one's Power, yet,
still, Love persists as one of reality's two fundamental elements, and
for some, equally necessary for survival.

Suffering is neither a test of God, nor flaw in the system, but
instead, the rarest of opportunities — a primary reason so many of us
are here. Only in the Mixture does this state even exist, neither
found in the Concert Hall, Marketplace, nor Spiral — one
doesn't suffer where one prefers to be. So, if there's no suffering
after death, why choose life? NUM holds that life is not imposed upon
us as a way to separate the inadequate (sinner) from the entitled
(saint), but instead, a voluntary opportunity for unparalleled
self-discovery.

To suffer is not the only reason we exist; however, it is a most
useful, unique novelty, often applied with little to no
warning. While in its panicked clutches, either compassion or control
will suddenly appear to be the only way to escape torment, but our
selection says less about the effectiveness of our options and more
about the depth of our desires. Although we might regret choices made
as we suffered, it still leaves us humbled to know what we are capable
of, to have gained a fuller story of our preferences' true
complexities. Through suffering, the two frameworks rise in stark
relief, allowing the sharpest, personal view of Their value for each
of us. In death, we're enveloped by one framework or the other — only
here might we have the rare opportunity to simultaneously tinker
unencumbered with our relationship to Love & Power.

Panpsychism:

Grappling with the concept of consciousness can be difficult, because,
although we can assume certainty of our own state, we can never be
sure of another person's. Consciousness, therefore, is the distinct
experience of one's own existence, but at the same time, this
first-person, mortal perspective obscures recognizing the full
experience of the "other," a perspective unfathomable in the Concert
Hall.

Definitively, there is "something like it" to be a human, or, say, a
bat. Eyesight largely paints a human's surroundings, while sonar
sketches the bat's. As we might all agree that these are two very
different minds, with two very different subjective experiences of the
same objective reality, is there also "something like it" to be an
electron, a star, or the universe itself? Panpsychism challenges the
idea that one must be "alive" to be conscious, proposing, instead,
that consciousness is everywhere. The Novel Universe Model takes
this a step farther, suggesting that protons have priorities, that
Gaia has goals, that the physical universe's purpose is driven by its
own personal agenda.

If consciousness isn't everywhere, where does it begin, somewhere
between sea squirts and baboons? Bees? Bacteria? Even the emergent
mind of slime mold shows intelligence in the way it chooses to spread.
Is this consciousness? The real question is, does slime mold have an
experience of "being" slime mold? As everything is an SFS, and every
SFS expresses goals and priorities (preferences), NUM suggests there's
"something like it" to be anything. It, therefore, follows that no
one truly knows what being slime mold is like but slime mold.

Whatever it is like to be a bat, a human, or the universe only
matters to the Signature-Frequency Set who has chosen that physical
perspective. Only the individual might be truly aware of its own
perspectives and desires. We are what we are because this human
story is the computational framework we prefer to learn from. No
story is more important than another — the life of an eagle no more
"divine" than that of a nematode. A useful life is one that explores
the goals and priorities inherent to the body one was born with,
whether that be soaring above prey, burrowing for food, or pondering
the mysteries of the universe.

We all have an inside and outside — the core concept symbolized by
our icon: a circle within a solid ring, surrounded by broken rings
representing one's co-created Ripples. A thing's state of
consciousness — of accumulated personal preference — is not a matter
of debate for NUM. Just like that first membrane separating the first
protocell from its environment, the foundational condition of any
mathematical set is the basic proposition that things exist inside the
set, and they are separate from the things that exist outside the set.
From the simplicity of a subatomic particle to the complexity of a
star, everyone and everything is animated by what's inside — its
Signature-Frequency Set, a competent, conscious, computational system
of preference and freewill.

Neo-Segregationists:

In any given moment, consciousness expresses itself through one of two
spiritual frames: Love (intentional, vulnerable participation), akin
to water in that It is interconnected and flexible; or Power
(forceful, silencing consumption), akin to rocks in that It is
isolated and inflexible. Love & Power are separate beyond-life, but
the Mixture of these two frameworks is what co-creates the Novel
Universe, or "The River," where mortal life plays out. Balancing Love
& Power, by maintaining separate spaces for each framework while
facilitating a member's relationship to each, is the mission of our
River Sages, as it is to mirror the Novel Universe Model on Earth. No
matter how many times the choice of frameworks is remade, members will
always have some number of Sages helping them improve their
relationship to the River. It is our faith that by mirroring the
segregated nature of Love & Power here on Earth, we might find balance
between those who would live by either framework, thus creating more
exemplary interpersonal and societal relationships.

To find this balance, those of Love (Citizens) are kept largely
separate from those of Power (Freemen), to practice their chosen
frameworks to everyone's content. Of course, every human tends to
practice both Love & Power, but over their lifetime, typically
develops a preference. By voluntarily segregating the frameworks,
hopefully, expressions of Love will no longer be undermined by
exertions of Power, and Power will be free to operate unfettered by
Love's restrictions. A primary difference between these segregated
groups is that Citizens (Love) must practice neural-democracy,
whereas Freemen (Power) may practice any form of governance they
wish, so long as it doesn't hinder the governance of others. Those who
would remain temporarily or permanently independent of either group
are known as Wanderers: symbolizing the Spiral, these members are
under the direct governance and counsel of the River Sages.

Neural-Democracy:

Utilitarianism states that a government should do the greatest "good"
for the greatest number of its governed. Autocracies operate as a form
of control at the individual level, while democracies operate as a
form of dialogue at the societal level. For eons, a natural, "pure
democracy" had always functioned well in the form of limited-sized
clusters of informed participants, whereas autocracies emerged only
after those limits had dissolved away. Two examples of effective pure
democracies are ancient human tribes or primate troops. Rather than
take an "official" vote on where they should search for food, the
wisdom of the crowd directed their path. Like flocking birds,
individuals either followed the group or foraged on their own. Each
member expressed the "good" of their freedom of choice, and food ended
up eaten, one way or another.

Attempting a systematic, large-scale democracy has historically led
to the very downfall of this desired "good," leading to autocracy. The
founders of the United States understandably could not see a way to
scale this pure form of democracy to a national level, replacing the
natural ideal of "direct democracy" — like the individual choices
early humans exercised — with their own "representative democracy" — where one speaks for the wants of many, but not all. Back then,
tallying everyone's vote was impractical, as there's never been a
physical location large enough to house an entire country in dialogue.
Today, however, there is such a place where everyone can speak and be
heard — the Internet. Technology makes a direct democracy not only
possible, but obligatory.

Like the plasticity of the brain — designed to remake itself anew
with every action — our "neural-democracy," too, constantly develops
through its daily practice. It's self-guiding, self-driving — there's
no final arbiter, no absolute authority standing on-high. Our
neural-democracy is always subject to change through an embedded
process of voter-regulated updates. Instead of a shadow oligarchy,
corrupt Supreme Court, or unpopular President with veto power, there's
only the People's voice, expressed through our unique system, a system
that employs a number of consequential innovations. Not only do we
have the ability to self-correct through direct input from the
electorate, but we've introduced all kinds of new variables defined by
the governed — how lasting a decision should be before it can be
altered, or how proximity to an issue should influence how a member's
preference is counted. Just as the Internet develops with its
userbase, neural-democracy's effectiveness is derived from maximizing
participation — the forging pressure perpetually evolving our unique
form of governance.

While we touch on the following concepts in general, NUC's Voting
Guide spells out the contemporary operations of our
neural-democracy, its various details available to our membership
through our clergy.

NUC Voting

The governance of the Novel Universe Cult plays out in four areas:
local, neighborhood, emergent, and global. The lowest-level
organization a member might belong to on either side of the River will
be a Clade (Rock) or Sphere (Water), in either case, this might simply
be one's immediate family. In isolation, this level of the Cult is
intended to be highly flexible, almost informal, without strict
adherence to or definitions of their governing principles. However,
when Clades (Power) and Spheres (Love) coalesce into the next level
of organization — Tribe / Community — the relationship is
formalized, and those governing mechanisms solidified.

At this point, one participates in both their local (Clade / Sphere)
and neighborhood (Tribe / Community) governance, whether the two
systems of governance are of the same or a different kind. While
Communities (Love) are bound to practice a neural-democracy, Tribes
generally choose a form of Power, either the multi-level Tower or
single-level Square. This means that it is possible for some members
to belong to an authoritarian Clade within a democratic Tribe. In such
cases, the Clade's dictator may direct its members to follow those
procedures and directives that directly affect the Clade's operations,
but when it comes to those that apply to the Tribe, the dictator has
no say in how the members of its Clade might vote on Tribal issues.
The reverse would also be true. Whereas a Tribal dictator could tell
its members what to do in Tribal affairs, the dictator is barred from
influencing a Clade member's vote on Clade affairs. This echoes the
United States' concept of State sovereignty, whereas the federal
government is limited in exercising control over issues in any one
state that do not affect any other state.

There are emergent structures beyond this neighborhood level that do
not include the entire Cult, such as Cities, Leagues, and Alliances.
These "emergent" levels strictly operate through NUC's
neural-democracy, with each level as its own voting system of
independent parts — there are no Tower Leagues or Square Alliances.
Those nested Cult Bodies, such as a group of Tribes (Lower-Order
Bodies), neural-democratically vote (each Tribe acting as a single
voter) to express the singular voice of their League (Higher-Order
Conductor). Next, the League, now an LOB, adds its voice to all the
other Leagues of its HOC — the Alliance they all belong to. This
process is intended as a direct reflection of emergent complexity.

The final area of voting is global, where the entire Cult is involved
in a single issue that equally affects all members of the Cult, like
the public voice of Saint TJ, or NUC's Creed. Like all NUC-related
issues, the establishment of our Creed's procedures / directives is
expressed by the full membership's current goals and priorities
through an adjusted form of a hybrid direct democracy, mixing our
neural-democracy with the classic one-citizen-equals-one-vote.
Regardless of any intersectional quality such as age, race, gender,
etc., all capable members who fit any category of any issue or
law, are allowed — encouraged — to make their authentic voice
heard through their ballot. Neural-democracy is our attempt at
maintaining an ongoing "equilibrium" between the majority and that
minority most impacted by any issue — the utilitarian aim of any
"good" democracy.

Input Bias

The brain basically operates a unique "voting" system already, as a
complex network of individual neurons expressing preferences, where
the impact of each voice is often not equivalent to "one citizen
equals one vote." When deciding to retreat from a hot stove, it's the
nerves in the hand whose message matters most, spurring the central
nervous system to act without input from the cortex. The
near-immediate sensation of pain does not cause the motion of the
hand, but instead, confirms the subcortical decision to act
independently.

Our form of democracy uses neural-network technology to tally votes on
an ongoing basis, and weighs each ballot according to the member's
pertinent relationship to the issue at stake. Through the process of
adjustable "input bias," or the ability to assign weights to voter
categories, our neural-democracy's input bias fundamentally protects
intersectional minorities who are greatly shaped by an issue from the
whims of an ill-informed, largely unaffected majority — with
differing levels of connections to a particular issue, we accordingly
increase or decrease the potential impact of each voter according to
their category(s).

Hypothetically, should the matter of building a house be raised in a
Water Body, the "biased" positions of those most affected will weigh
the most. For example, the category of voters most affected by the
existence of the home are those who will live in the house, and
count as 2.5 votes per occupant; neighbors, 1.5; and the vast majority
of the community who are directly affected far less by the house's
existence, 1 vote per person. However, should it become clear over
time that many of those living in these newly built homes are
unhappy to some degree, the value of these weights can be adjusted
through a "perpetual" process of recalculation by the Body, and
prospective occupant voices amplified. After these weights are
recalculated, perhaps now the small minority of occupants will have
3.25 votes each, while any other category of voter, such as
"neighbor," may also be further increased or decreased to amplify the
effect. Additionally, any current or future vote on any issue / law
with these same voter categories may also have those corresponding
weights updated. For instance, if the same Body is currently voting on
the issue of building other houses nearby, each occupant will
immediately go from casting 2.5 to 3.25 votes. Of course, only a
studious inquiry of these effects will tell if this was an overcorrection, and in that case, future adjustments may be warranted.

Frame Effect

Two characteristics of neural-networks — time frame and outcome — operate very differently from a classic democracy. Historically,
voting had always happened at a set time with a definitive outcome.
Neural-networks, like human brains, are in constant operation, and
understand that solutions may never be concrete, yet, at some point, a
decision must be made or nothing gets done. Instead of a discrete vote
that locks in-place the moment it's cast, the Novel Universe Cult's
neural-democracy initiates action based on assessing a high-noise
popular intent, as it surpasses a "tipping point." Each member may
register their position on an issue as they form an opinion, but
also, may, until the voting window closes, repeatedly change their
vote — the source of that noise. As this process has a majority
intent taking effect over a time frame, we call this characteristic
the "Frame Effect" — the idea that the electorate's intent fluctuates
over time, but with optimal parameters, a functional majority can be
sufficiently assessed in order to take reasonable action.

Let's say in order for the house to actually be built, 70% of the
Body's total electorate must first have weighed in on a hypothetical
"Issue 1," and, from those participating ballots, a majority of 67%
or more in favor of construction must be sustained for a
predetermined 3 months. In short, when enough people agree for enough
time, the voting ends, and Issue 1 is adopted, becoming Law 1. The
point at which an issue becomes law is the issue's tipping point,
which consists of three flexible factors whose values are determined
by the voters: 1) a total participation rate of the electorate; 2) a
majority percentage of participating votes in favor; and 3), a time
frame of sustained participation from the majority. Once made public,
the house's status is open for debate until the tipping point is
reached, the timeframe expires, and the voting window closes, in this
case, with the start of construction in month four.

An issue cannot be voted "down," or in other words, 100% removed from
consideration, because there's no functional difference between voting
against an issue as there is for that issue's tipping point to have
never been reached. However, once a law exists, it can be reversed,
should the public recast their votes against the law. The ability to
decisively address certain things — not immediately relevant or
apparent as decisions are made — is a major benefit of leaving a
voting window eternally open.

Imagine, a decade after the house is built, new info about problematic
building materials comes to light. There had been other issues created
to address the housing situation. Initially, Issue 2 had seemed like a
great idea, but its "natural" materials and design had been deemed too
expensive by many, so most ended up supporting Issue 1, now Law 1.
Instead of having to create a wholly new issue with all its details, a
motivated group implores the electorate to reverse their position and
recast their votes against Law 1 (formerly Issue 1), while
simultaneously lobbying for Issue 2, something most had already
considered. In a single month, the total participation rate for both
skyrockets past that 70% to 90%, and that old 67% majority in favor of
initially building the house flips to 98% in favor of razing
(reversing Law 1) and rebuilding it (supporting Issue 2). Once this
profoundly more intense response is sustained for, say, 2 weeks, Law 1
is reversed, and Issue 2 becomes Law 2 — the old, toxic dwelling is
quickly demolished, and again, construction begins.

Why would the time frame now be 2 weeks instead of that initial 3
months? Because the Frame Effect isn't some set point on a scale, but
a dynamic parameter derived from the relationship between its 3
variables — participation, majority, and timeframe. The "low" point
of a Frame (Low Frame) is the longest amount of consecutive time
needed to lapse once the minimum participation rate and minimum
majority required to pass an issue is reached. The "high" point of an
issue's Frame (High Frame) is the shortest window of time when the
maximum number of votes reaches a consensus to pass the issue. As the
vote exceeds the Low Frame, the clock begins to tick, ticking faster
as the majority percentage increases. Should the vote drop below the
Low Frame, the voting clock stops, while the vote tally continues
whatever journey it's on, until, once again, it rises to meet the Low
Frame, and the clock restarts its count from zero.

Just as neurons strengthen or weaken connections between each other,
the specific weights of these variables and their combinations are
updated by the electorate to better reflect the People's intent. After
the debacle of that toxic house, maybe the adjusted Low Frame for
future houses will drastically change, now requiring 80% of the
People's voice to first weigh in, with a majority of 75% in favor over
6 months, thus allowing better research to be done in the future.

Neural-democracy is advanced governance, and requires an engaged,
informed electorate with at least a passing sense of how the math of
neural-networks operates to be effective. Because of the adjustable
nature of input bias, this form of democracy is capable of responding
to the People's intent in a timely manner, while simultaneously
resisting frivolous or corrupt attempts to make profound changes that
are not valued by the People and will not last. Just as a child
stumbles before learning to walk, wiring their brain through the
arduous process of myelination, so must a neural-democracy work
through those initial conditions to find its own variables of success.
The more Communities deal with more issues, and with more
participation, the more effective each outcome becomes. Eventually,
recognizing which variables need tweaking, and by how much, becomes
more intuitive.

Embedded Position

Another difference between a classic and neural-democracy is what we
call an Embedded Position. The classic version poses a question,
"Should we build this house?" and the "yes" or "no" answer is binary.
On the other hand, a neural-democracy can additionally resolve the
"fuzzy" point on a scale of the house's cost. For example, instead of
asking "Should we build this house?" we could ask, "How much
should we spend on this house?" One's binary position is embedded
in the amount of funding they choose, $0 embedded as "no," and
effectively, any other reasonable amount, "yes." As people weigh in,
and the Frame Effect is met with sufficient "yes" votes, the issue not
only becomes a law, but that fuzzy question of expense is
simultaneously resolved into a mathematical mean, representing the
Body's desire as a whole to fund the house.

QT Preference Voting

Once the community has voted to build the house, how do they decide
its style? Of the most popular options used in modern governments, the
most effective is Rank-Choice voting. In this system, voters rank each
option in order of preference, and an iterative process whittles down
the list to a single answer with the most widespread support. In
America's problematic, winner-take-all system (first past the post),
an extreme candidate can win with the highest vote total, even though
most voters don't agree with the result — it's the primary reason
third-party candidates are not viable, as they "spoil" the outcome by
"splitting the ticket." Instead, Rank-Choice's elimination rounds
reallocate the votes for each choice eliminated, and the process
repeats as many times over as necessary until one surpasses
fifty-percent. Wherever practiced, Rank-Choice moderates extreme
divisions in the electorate by highlighting acceptable compromises,
and ends the tyranny of the isolated, radical plurality. Candidates
are neither rewarded for pandering to the extremes with fringe ideas
nor punished for their centrist participation, but instead,
incentivized to reach out to the entire electorate with sensible
solutions.

In the Novel Universe Cult, both Rank-Choice and Approval voting are
acceptable standalone methods for selecting among a group of
candidates. As Rank-Choice can be convoluted, time-consuming, and, in
certain cases, suffer technical issues with the math's fairness,
Approval voting is preferred. Instead of ranking the list of
candidates, with Approval voting, the voter simply marks each option
they approve of, leaving no mark for those unapproved of. The winner
is the one with the most marks — simple, efficient, elegant.

Fitted to our more granular neural-democracy, we've developed an
alternate version based on Approval voting, employing two of the three
dimensions of emotion: valence and intensity. This form of voting is
intended primarily for issues that might have a significant,
long-lasting impact, like the existence of any "permanent" structure.
As such, a key feature is the possibility the vote will not end with
the selection of a candidate. However, when used as designed, the most
acceptable option will emerge after some number of prescribed
iterations. When the stakes are too high to second guess, QT
Preference voting is how the Cult makes those high-impact choices.

For valence, voters mark a thumbs-up or thumbs-down (yum, yuck) for
each candidate, leaving those without a preference with no mark (meh).
For intensity, voters may highlight one "like" and one "loath"
candidate, reflecting the idea that many voters often have a single
preferred or despised candidate. The more useful ballot is the one
where a voter has made fewer marks, while also using the "like" /
"loath" options. In this way, their preferences have been more clearly
expressed.

Once the issue's participation is met and the Frame Effect's timer
begins to run, the vote enters the evaluation stage, where each thumbs
up or down on a ballot is multiplied by the voter's input bias, with a
"like" or "loath" mark doubling the voter's bias for the single
candidate. The votes are summed for each option across all ballots,
with thumbs-down votes subtracted from thumbs-up (potentially
resulting in negative scores). The candidate with the highest score
moves forward first, and will be selected if it passes a simple
evaluation: does the candidate have a positive overall score, and has
fewer than a third of the total electorate cast a "loath" vote for
the candidate? To be clear, if the total electorate is 100 people,
with 75 weighing in, the number of "loath" votes to reject the
candidate is not 25 or more, but 33. If the top scoring candidate
doesn't meet this evaluation, the next highest score is evaluated.
This repeats until one passes or no more positive scores are left to
evaluate, in which case, the vote has failed to pick a viable
candidate.

If a candidate passes the evaluation when the Frame's timer runs out,
the candidate is selected. Should none pass the evaluation, none have
met the electorate's high standards. In such cases, River Sages and
those associated with creating the initial proposal are encouraged to
poll voters, dig into the data, and reconfigure the candidates'
details to create ones that might pass. At this point, the proposal's
creators can either resubmit the proposal as a new issue, or have the
Sages create an ISD to reopen the Frame's countdown with the altered
candidate(s) listed.

QT Preference is not designed as a standalone method but as an
integral part of our neural-democracy. While being more efficient than
Rank-Choice, it also more clearly reflects the electorate's intent
under our unique form of democracy. Unlike Approval voting, it has the
added benefit of establishing a ceiling for the electorate's
"loathing" of any particular candidate — if more than a third of all
the people feel that passionate about a specific option, the sponsors
are forced to find another one, or drop the issue. Of course, once the
Frame's timer has run out and no candidate has passed the evaluation,
it is still possible that at some point in the future enough voters
might alter their ballots, allowing for a candidate to pass the
evaluation. As the Frame had already closed, the candidate would be
immediately implemented; however, in this case, unique to QT
Preference voting, time must be given to notify the electorate of this
outcome, allowing voters to change their vote in light of the new
information. The amount of time is generally days or a few weeks, but
no more than half the original Low Frame's length, and must be spelled
out in the proposal before becoming an issue.

Although individual voters' views cannot be publicly assessed, and
therefore, directly targeted for lobbying at any point in any
voting process, the electorate's general positions can be assessed,
and therefore, influenced. The daily standing of each candidate,
including its proportion of "like" and "loath" votes, is publicly
updated, but only during the evaluation stage. Because it's possible
to estimate voters' general positions, it's possible to move these
positions one way or another by addressing their perceived concerns.
This can be accomplished through the hard work of tweaking the
candidate's details, while in "dialogue" with the electorate. Dialogue
metaphorically means "listening," through polling, focus groups,
messaging, and the like, while "speaking" means updating, with Sage
approval, details of particular candidates based on what was "said."
By evaluating how those implementations seemingly influence the
voting numbers, this "indirect lobbying" process allows those
interested in a specific candidate the opportunity to adjust its
details, possibly increasing its chance to be selected when the Frame
closes by recruiting the "likes" and reducing the "loathes." This, of
course, can only be done by making said candidate more palatable for
those who loath the candidate, while maintaining or improving the
candidate's characteristics in the eyes of more voters — the
fundamental aim of any effective democracy.

Status Quo and Signal-to-Noise

Neural connections that are "used" are reinforced; those that are not
are "lost." In the brain, the idea of "use it or lose it" is like
learning versus memory loss. Boosting the signal-to-noise ratio
enhances healthy learning and memory loss. Defining signal from
noise is as easy as asking a simple question: is the information
useful? Recognizing signal from noise, however, is far from easy or
simple. Often, it is only in hindsight that we discover what we
thought was noise turns out to be signal, or vice versa.

Why allow a law, or an individual's vote, to go forgotten? Why leave
election information anonymous, even hidden? As it is with a
neural-democracy, memory loss and noise reduction are critical to a
functioning mind, that isn't over-inundated with chaotic or
counterproductive information.

To boost the signal-to-noise ratio, it's important to know what
information to pay attention to, and what to ignore. Voting, like the
learning process, is an act that requires diligence and properly
focused attention. In this endeavor, the Novel Universe Cult's
neural-democracy is forever hoping to amplify signal and dampen noise.
To that end, we've created a handful of strategies, some notably
inspired by Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman's 2021 final work Noise: A
Flaw in Human Judgment.

The time period during union negotiations where things remain as they
are until there's a new contract is known as "status quo." The primary
benefit of NUC's Status Quo, and a boosted signal-to-noise ratio, is
an electorate that isn't bogged down by too many issues, allowed,
instead, to focus on forming and exercising personal preference. A
neural-democracy keeps only the most important items top-of-mind,
while periodically requiring the electorate to recast their vote, or
even reconsider voting at all. Deciding not to vote on a particular
issue in a neural-democracy does not mean one has not weighed in. A
non-vote is not only a legitimate position to have, but has its own,
unique, mathematical effect, further reducing noise.

To better understand the consequences of any decision, a period of
reflection is meant to study the costs and benefits of the vote's
outcome, as well as potential alterations any future proposal might
want to address. Status Quo, a forced gap between the point when a law
initially goes into effect and when it might be altered, creates
inertia — we're inspired to either leave things as they are, or find
an insightful new take on an old idea. Effectively, the law will have
time to be experienced before a decision is made to change it.

Generally, issues remain open to voting anywhere from a few weeks to
several years, depending on how controversial or complicated they
become. Let's say, for example, this issue is put to voters:
"Consider building a new house in the Community. Provide an amount
you'd like spent on that new house, then mark your preferred house
styles."

Those interested voters form their opinions and weigh in. However,
people in neighborhoods with a low input bias, no fiscal stake in the
matter, or strong feelings either way, are likely to add noise with
their vote, and are therefore better off not weighing in. Once the
predetermined minimum number of votes have been cast, with a
sufficient majority in favor, the Frame Effect countdown clock starts.
Should the majority consensus drop below the minimum threshold (Low
Frame), even a little, the clock stops. When and if the consensus
again rises to meet the Frame, the clock restarts from zero. After the
required consecutive time, where the majority is sustained, the
voting window closes, the issue becomes a law, and construction of a
house actually begins.

After the house is built to plan, a new clock starts at zero,
counting up to Status Quo — unless critical new information prompts
intervention, the house's status will go a specific amount of time
unchallenged. After the required time has passed, the electorate may
now raise new issues addressing the house — like should they wire
in solar panels, or reconstruct it entirely? They may also recast
their vote at this point on the original law, possibly reversing their
support. However, should new information suddenly arise, that, say,
the house was constructed with unsafe materials, an enthusiastic
electorate may change that Status Quo clock to zero — with or without
Sage intervention — and the house could be razed at any time.

In addition to Status Quo removing a successful law from consideration
for a time, individual votes also "expire," and must be periodically
recast in order to remain valid, establishing another point of
adjustable inertia for issues with more or less significance. In the
case of this house, after 2 years, an individual's vote disappears,
but can simply be recast at any time, so long as the voting window
remains open. They may also update their vote — altering the funding
amount and / or QT valence marks on the list of styles — renewing
their vote's 2-year expiration. Not only is this a noise-reduction
strategy, but as forgetful voters lose the significance of an old
vote, their ballot is also "lost" without thought or effort. On the
other hand, the periodic nature of the process refreshes those
passionate enough about the issue to continue to weigh in, while
simultaneously staying current on the issue's potentially changing
details.

Another benefit is that a minority of voters cannot hijack laws few
are still aware of. Say, in the house example, that a sneaky group of
distant neighbors hates the chosen house style, say, Tudor. Without
Status Quo erasing all the previously cast votes, an added 20% of
"like" marks for a post-modern candidate and "loath" for the Tudor,
even years later, could be enough to eliminate the Tudor, now with a
negative score, and send the post-modern to the top. Before most are
aware, the home's replaced with something the majority won't be happy
with — a post-modern house.

In our neural-democracy, that takeover scenario doesn't happen. A 20%
minority might fervently weigh in, a decade after the house was
initially set for construction, but will change nothing. With the
start of Status Quo, the participation rate was reset to zero, as all
the initial votes were discarded. The activists, adding their 20%
years later, won't meet the Low Frame's threshold of 70%
participation. In order for the Reversal Statute to go into effect — the house demolished — that minority will have to do hard work to
overcome inertia. To meet the participation rate, they'd have to
entice a minimum of an additional 50% of the Community to recast
their votes. They also may not hoard votes over time, due to the
2-year expiration on individual votes. Inspiring a community to get
rid of a condemned house would be one thing, but convincing enough
people to demolish it purely for aesthetics should be much more
difficult. Reversing decisions (especially big ones like the existence
of a home) should neither be whimsical nor impossible, but require
enough fervent support to overcome the inertia of that original
position.

In addition to the expiration of votes to reduce noise, we also employ
both targeted and randomized erasure. Once half the Low Frame
participation is met (35% in the case of the house), a small
percentage of votes are specifically or randomly discarded as
participation evolves. Any vote of any type may be selected for
random erasure, but the noisiest QT Preference votes are targeted
first.

An example of a noisy, multiple-choice ballot would both have the
fewest number of blank (meh) items, and also, no "like" or "loath"
marks. These ballots are selected to weigh in again, although they
are not required to vote any differently from their original position,
only encouraged to do so. A ballot with all candidates receiving the
same thumbs-up (or thumbs-down) creates a high-noise ballot. However,
a ballot that has no candidates marked either way is the noisiest
possible ballot, and will be selected first. In either case, the
ballot has failed to highlight any single option as a preference.
Each voter is reminded why their ballot was selected — that they left
the ballot totally unmarked, they had a high number of marks, and /
or, that they didn't express either or both the "like" and "loath"
options. Furthermore, voters whose ballots are selected are not given
access to their previous ballot. The voter is given a new ballot, and
may weigh in again, having been encouraged (not required) to address
the reason for their ballot's erasure and thus creating a stronger
signal of their true intent.

Voters who have their ballot either randomly or specifically erased
are alerted that their vote was erased, and invited to weigh in again,
but not required to do so. Furthermore, each vote is erased with
random sampling without replacement, or the idea that an individual
voter should not have their vote erased more than once. As the Frame
is reached and the countdown starts, votes are no longer discarded,
unless the participation rate drops below the Low Frame, and the
countdown clock stops. Having a rolling percentage of voters making a
second judgment might potentially clarify their feelings, reducing the
noise of their position and the wider electorate.

Should we be guessing the number of pennies in a giant
jar, and hear somebody guess "10,000," at minimum,
we're likely to respond with an answer in the thousands, if
not around 10,000. Knowing other people's opinion
"anchors" our own, and limits our ability to make an authentic
observation. Therefore, the viewable
ledger of voter positions and voting percentages are
restricted to Active Sage voting administrators. There are
only 2 types of announcements publicly posted about a
vote: the most current date of a 0% participation
rate, and the most current date the Low
Frame was breached (either rising above or
falling below). As long as the Frame is in
effect, the countdown clock itself is made public, but
the voter participation and position percentages
remain hidden. It is welcome and encouraged for members to share
their opinions / information with each other, but by
eliminating the ability to see the majority opinion, voter
anchoring is eliminated. The use of these
systematic noise-reduction strategies, along with inertia,
ensures the sleek effectiveness of our
neural-democracy, as voters who lack sufficient interest
are systematically weeded out.

Reversal Statute

Just as any being has a lifecycle that must include death, laws should
not be left to live forever unaltered, lest their stagnation in a
dynamic environment cause harm. This is done in direct contradiction
with U.S. Constitutional supremacy, which allows a vaguely-worded,
centuries-old, Puritanical document to be the final deciding factor on
every contemporary issue. The different Bodies of the Novel Universe
Cult may uphold their own laws in fluctuating states of
"Constitutionality," such as the uncompromising rights of bodily
autonomy and its implied access to abortion. Instead of fixing
ourselves to any concept beyond the framework of our tenets, the
Novel Universe Cult acknowledges that things change, that laws have a
lifecycle, and their end must therefore be, not only planned for, but
expected. Even the most just, most prescient, most "divine" law,
given centuries, will need to be eventually set aside, or at
minimum, reconfigured to fit the times.

For a proposal (the first stage of a law) to become an issue (the
second stage), it must include a "Reversal Statute" — a list of
detailed plans to address the contingency that, as a law, voters
reverse their position. At any point after the end of Status Quo
reopens the voting window, members may recast their votes. Just as
voting "no" for an issue has no functional effect on the outcome
beyond lowering the percentage of votes in favor, and thus resisting
the Frame Effect's implementation, in the case of a law, a "yes"
vote would generally follow the same logic — resisting the
implementation of a Reversal Statute. However, should that original
majority of "yes" votes become "no," under the numbers of the current
Frame Effect, the law is "reversed," and one of the law's Reversal
Statutes goes into effect.

In the example of this house, the construction constituted carrying
out the law, but before this law had gone into effect, the issue had
listed a minimum number of plans to address the house should the law
be potentially reversed — in our example, demolition was one. There are
any number of plans that could've been included: repurposing it as a
community building, refitting it for commercial use, or upgrading it
with additional occupants in mind, say, as a duplex.

To "reverse" a vote, a voter will have to cast a new ballot, as all
votes had been erased with the beginning of Status Quo. In our house
example, a "no" vote entails entering "0" into the amount of funding
for the house, and instead of marking the house styles, the voter is
prompted to mark the list of Reversal Statute options. Once the Frame
is met to reverse the law, an additional grace-period allows for all
voters to mark their own Reversal Statute list, whether they voted to
reverse the law or not. Finally, QT Preference voting evaluates the
list of plans to select the one to be implemented. In such cases where
none of the statutes pass the evaluation, Sages alter the details, and
possibly add new statutes. The list is resubmitted, and if it fails
again, the process repeats until an acceptable statute is found.

Dynamic Leveling and ISD

Neural-democracy is neither quick nor easy, but it is valuable in that
it creates sustainable laws. Like no other system, it seeks to provide
an effective voice to those most affected by an issue — the
foundational element of any utilitarian endeavor. Therefore, finding
the optimal weight of each vote is a perpetual process, and the
primary key to creating outcomes that work for everyone. There is no
inherent limit to the number of times a law might be established or
reversed — a house built, razed, or redesigned — but with each
iteration, each period of inertia and adjustment, stability should
form, and an optimal dwelling situation found. Similar to machine
learning's gradient descent, we call this ongoing, back-and-forth
process of correcting to find the ideal, Dynamic Leveling. The Cult
uses this in conjunction with our understanding of input bias, the
Frame Effect, Embedded Position, QT Preference voting, noise
reduction, and Status Quo in our democracy. However, especially
time-sensitive, critical cases may require a unique type of vote we
haven't yet listed. To model that, we look at the synapse — the
electrical-chemical bridge where neurons communicate.

"Sparks and soups" is a popular metaphor to express the difference
between ionotropic and metabotropic synaptic receptors — ionotropic
are fast like an electric spark, metabotropic, relatively slow like
bubbling soup. Our neural-democracy, as described to this point, is a
metabotropic framework, where decisions are expressed from an "analog"
reference — slow, steady, and ongoing, like simmering soup on a warm
stove. However, when changes must be made in a more "digital" manner — quickly and decisively — we use the ionotropic method, like an
immediate shock of electricity. Although it isn't a perfect analogy,
it is akin to the difference between pondering an issue and reacting
to a stimulus, as Daniel Kahneman addressed in his seminal 2011 work
Thinking, Fast and Slow, where he describes the difference between
system 1 (intuitive) and system 2 (deliberative) thought.

If toxic materials in one house are found to be more than just a
threat to a single dwelling, but a system-wide problem for many
others, the River Sages may initiate an Ionotropic Sage Declaration
(ISD). This decision flips neural-democracy on its head. Instead of
voting for the passage of an issue in a detailed, drawn-out, analog
manner, the entire electorate must promptly act to "digitally"
counter the Sages' proposal. Votes are "inferred," which means votes
are counted in the affirmative once a member has simply viewed an
ISD announcement. From the moment they view the notice until the
voting window closes, a member's only action is to counter a proposed
ISD by voting "no." However, no action infers tacit support, and
remains registered as a "yes" vote.

After the Sages have determined the need to immediately deal with the
toxic houses, they first disseminate an announcement to address the
widespread demolition of those houses. Next, the River creates and
passes an ISD for demolition, and a highly-promoted bulletin,
detailing the Declaration, is posted on all NUC-related outlets, along
with a personal notice sent to all members. While urgency is
foundational to the ISD process, there's no actual time limit to
counting views, only a minimum amount of verified views that must be
met before the proposal becomes an issue, that can then be
countered. It's reasonable to assume almost everyone will see the ISD,
but the process will only move forward once a substantial proportion
of the involved Cult members have officially acknowledged that they've
viewed it — a process spelled out in our Voter Guide.

Acting like 2-AG endocannabinoids binding to CB1 receptors to invert
the action of the synapse, the electorate has a set period of time to
counter the Sages, once the minimum engagement floor has been met. If
a predetermined majority of the electorate rejects the Declaration,
the Sages are overridden and the ISD fails. However, this must be a
strong signal — the percentage of required views of the notice,
electorate participation, and majority opposition should all generally
be between 67%-99%. Unlike our usual, ongoing, metabotropic votes,
ionotropic issues open, and once the clock runs out, close. Once
closed upon passage, only a new law or new ISD crafted to address the
new situation might reorient the Cult's actions.

As votes are inferred in the affirmative, the only action a voter
might take is to counter the ISD. In such a case, the voter is
required to provide feedback — reasoning for their position. This
feedback becomes necessary should the ISD fail and need to be
adjusted. ISDs are designed to be a fluid, iterative process to
accomplish a needed goal, not a concrete issue to be debated for
potential adoption as a law. ISDs arise because some time-critical
situation needs immediate attention. Should the Sage's attempt be
inadequate, required feedback from the electorate is designated to
detail the sticking-point(s), informing the Sages' redraft of the ISD
to be resubmitted. This repeats until an ISD passes, or it becomes
clear to the Sages that the electorate is solidly against it.

Whereas the Novel Universe Cult's leader is Saint TJ — an avatar of
the membership's aggregate voice, and not an actual person who might
take definitive actions in a timely manner — Ionotropic Sage
Declarations are designed to fill this highly responsive role,
allowing the Cult to make drastic pivots to deal with acute threats
that might harm the Cult in part or as a whole. Outside their use as a
matter of practice, they should rarely, if ever, be used to address
the issues of any particular individual or Body of the Cult.

Being long-standing members with mastery of their fields, the Sages'
expertise is assumed by default, and their rare instances of
ionotropic action should be prudent for the Cult as a whole. This type
of vote is primarily used when it is clearly needed in a crisis, and
obvious to the vast majority of the membership, like that costly
gamble to use untested materials in all those recently constructed
homes. Therefore, should the electorate repeatedly counter an ISD or
series of ISDs, an investigation by a team of Inspector Generals will
ensue, and the Sage(s) who initiated and / or led the process may have
their status as a Sage indefinitely suspended for inappropriate use of
the process. In such cases, the Sage(s) may only regain their position
by a new ISD nomination and subsequent metabotropic confirmation by
the Cult. Exceptions are SOP ISDs, those ISDs required by our Standard
Operating Procedures, such as the confirmation of a new Cult member or
nomination of a River Sage.

Operational Concepts

Proposals and Issues

As any member might potentially submit unlimited items to be voted on,
the electorate would eventually drown in an endless sea of proposals,
imperiling the important ones. To address this inevitable noise, a
"proposal" is submitted to the River for evaluation and placement
before their targeted electorate as an "issue," which is voted on to
become a "law." Sages affirm that the member's proposal addresses some
actual problem that either might exist or does exist within the
relevant Body(s), and ensure the proposal is sufficiently prepared for
the electorate's vote. A proposal becomes an issue either through
River Sage approval, or by electorate petition. Although Sage approval
is not guaranteed, when a sufficient percentage of the entire
targeted electorate signs a petition to back the proposal that meets
voting standards, it is immediately approved.

Categories

Just as the human mind is basically a categorizing machine, all
relevant, unique aspects of the Cult are listed and defined in the
Novel Universe Cult's Category Codex. For instance, categorizing
the entities of our neural-democracy — issues, voters, Frames, input
bias and weights, etc. — allows each to properly function within the
mathematically-based complexity of our unique governing system. In the
house example, neural-democratic categories would include such things
as the home's occupants, neighbors, style, and within one of those
categories, next-door neighbors, and on-the-block neighbors, for
example. Category creation and definition is a "perpetual" process
that happens solely through the membership's expression of our
neural-democracy for the purposes of clarifying our terms. On the
other hand, unless a concept is unique, or at least used or defined
somewhat differently by the Cult, assume our usage of the related
term(s) is meant to follow a common vernacular.

As lines separating ideas can be vague, Cult-defined categories use
common language for everyone's understanding. To sharpen
definitions, each category limits shared characteristics with other
categories whenever possible. Optimally, NUC categories are designed
as standardized building blocks that potentially fit any number of
others in any number of ways, "assembling" more complex, useful
objects. "Root" categories, like "person," are built from multiple
levels of "subcategories," such as the subjective ideas of "class,"
"gender," or "occupation," as well as objective ones like "species,"
"height," or "age." Moving down the assembled hierarchy of age, for
instance, we find age's subcategories, "child," "teenager," "adult,"
and "elderly," with specific parameters for each. If the Cult finds
the need for additional categories or subcategories, these are added
neural-democratically, as spelled out in our Voter Guide.

When a proposal is sent to the River to become an issue, Sages may
approve intersectional categories to boost specific voters' input
bias. For instance, a proposed construction project making a lot of
noise during the day would most impact those neighbors without daytime
occupations, likely the very young or very old — elderly or child
neighbors. "Elderly-Neighbor" would be a combination of the two
distinct categories of Elderly and Neighbor, what we call an
"inter-category." Such inter-categories are useful to amplify the
intersectional voices of those most affected by a potential law.

The Standard Frame

Just as variables are initialized so apps don't crash upon startup,
the Standard Frame is a special Frame Effect "set in stone." Examples
of when the Standard Frame is used include NUC voting, when all
voters have an equal stake; or when establishing our "Perpetual
Issues" — adjusting the entries of an issue's Frame or definition.
With each spelled out in our Voter Guide, the specific values of the
Standard Frame are designed to allow enough time for its effects to be
experienced, while simultaneously, be agile enough to pivot without
Sage intervention. Adjustments to the Standard Frame require a vote by
the entire Cult, and should only be done with solid evidence backing,
both the need for the change, but also, the specific values to be
updated, and their details.

Perpetual Issues

In our house example, we discovered many residents unhappy with their
houses, and felt as though their voices weren't adequately heard.
Going forward, we'll respond with a change to how an occupant's vote
will be counted, amplifying their voice by increasing the weight of a
"resident" input bias from 2.5 to 3.25. Changing this number wasn't
the result of a new issue becoming law, but a tweak to a Perpetual
Issue. NUC assumes that certain, core metrics — definitions,
weights, Frame numbers — might forever improve to one degree or
another. Instead of having to be separately raised each time as a
proposal, each variable cycles in and out of Status Quo — permanently
fluctuating between a state of consideration and implementation.
Through separate, unique processes for each type of value to be
updated, each spelled out in our Voter Guide, members participate in
a multi-tiered system of voting rounds to, first, signal a desire for
a specific value to be updated, and second, agree on what that change
should be. Various core items of our democracy, including input biases
and category definitions, will always require tweaking.

Contrary to the Supreme Court's faction of Originalists, who believe
that the "correct" view of the US Constitution is to interpret it
through a fixed lens fashioned by the Founder's "original" intent,
NUC's neural-democracy assumes nothing. Unlike those Originalists,
whose mindset flies in the face of basic Darwinism, the inherent
flexibility of the Perpetual Issue embraces the reality that
adaptation is key to survival — the strategy underlying a brain's
plasticity.

The Novel Universe Cult is a religion based on information as the
foundation of all things. The creation and use of large amounts of
data are critical for day-to-day operations. Where access to the tools
of technology is available, URLs, digital documentation, and the like
are used to process, disseminate, and archive data. In places where
access to digital technology is limited or non-existent, hard-copies
are produced for these uses and retained for record keeping. These
hard copies stay regularly updated by volunteering members, in the
interest of keeping data relevant and fully accessible to our
membership. There are a few instances where information is
intentionally restricted to the River and its Sages for the purposes
of anonymity or noise reduction, such as Status Quo sequestering a
law's specific voting history, but even the siloing of information
amongst tribes of Power — a core characteristic and right of their
Cult Body — is still accessible, as is all NUC information, by
River for the purposes of oversight.

With this in mind, after a proposal is approved to become an issue, a
web-accessible Issue page (URL) is created to host the vote, and
inform the voters of the issue's details. Should the issue become law,
its Status Quo "timer" begins, its Issue page is archived, and a Law
page is created with all necessary information about the new law. The
archived Issue page, along with the details of every member's voting
history and final position on the issue, is restricted to the Sages,
and will only be accessed if the information becomes relevant, like
under investigation of fraud. Next, an entry is made in the Log of
Laws with the original issue's metadata: a title, brief abstract, date
of passage, and link to the law's page with its complete description
and details. Archiving the Issue page, while creating a separate Law
page and metadata entry into the Log, encourages a primary function of
Status Quo — individual voters "forgetting" about their previously
held positions when future issues of a similar nature are raised, or
when the law's voting window reopens at the end of Status Quo.

Metaphorically, the difference between the brain's right and left
hemispheres is a stage and its spotlight. The stage (right hemisphere)
represents the wider context of the onstage performance — its story,
participants, setting, and environment. The spotlight (left
hemisphere) represents the performance's specifics — its dialogue,
character placement, and detailed action, in other words, how each
scene plays out. NUC uses this two-tiered approach to disseminate
voting information, and to keep the electorate engaged with issues
that warrant attention, such as current issues or laws with closing
voting windows, ISDs, new issues, laws whose voting windows have
reopened, etc. The "Stage" is akin to a landing page, while the
"Spotlight," like a tailor-made menu of the most important items of
the day. Additionally, each Stage and Spotlight is hosted in one of
two different scopes, akin to "federal" versus "state." Whenever a
member engages with their neural-democracy, they open the common
"Global Stage," where Cult-related information awaits, and, should
they belong to a Body of Love and / or Power, find that additional
link to their "Local Stage."

Automatic Update

Once an update to a voting metric is made, such as the participation
rate or length of the Low Frame's timeframe, does this mean the
altered Issue will be scrapped, and a new vote initiated with those
new value(s) applied? If that were the case, the potential chaos would
discourage the process altogether, risking a future where only the
most problematic values are intermittently addressed. When voters
don't feel heard, or feel bogged down by red tape, they disengage,
allowing corruption to take root. Historically, corruption has always
led to the disintegration of effective governance in any form.
Encouraging evolution, participation, and transparency annihilates the
threat. Therefore, instead of starting over with a new vote after the
resident input bias weight is updated from 2.5 to 3.25, the vote is
simply recalculated with the new value going forward, and an Automatic
Update takes place.

Should an issue / law with an open voting window use a Perpetual Issue
to make a change in its definition, a change in some category's voter
weight, or a change in any of its Frame Effect numbers, the Sages must
resubmit the issue / law to the Stage with these updated values
applied, along with a personal notice alerting voters who have already
weighed in. Unless these voters take affirmative action to remove or
change their vote under the new situation, their vote and its
expiration date is automatically applied to the updated issue,
reducing the friction associated with Perpetual Issue adjustments.

As Status Quo removes all votes after an issue becomes a law, an
Automatic Update has no practical effect on the newly created law. It
would, therefore, be impossible for future updates to the Frame's
values, whether minimal or not, to potentially reverse the law as
there are no votes to be weighed and counted. However, under some
number of drastic updates to the values of the law, when it was an
issue, it would have been possible to have had a different outcome
with those updated values. Still, going forward, we require voters
weigh in under the current situation should they desire that
alternative outcome under the new values — establishing and
overcoming a reasonable amount of inertia is a primary key to a
functioning neural-democracy.

Saint TJ, Our Cult Leader:

We venerate what we consider the truth — the Novel Universe Model — not a person or thing, but an evolving theory of everything. Therefore, instead of an actual cult leader, we've placed a contrived character, Saint TJ, in our "Top Job." With the head of a happy dog, this androgynous avatar of our communal voice ensures no one might claim to have created the Cult. Saint TJ is not a person but the emergent voice of NUC's collective membership, expressed through neural-democracy. In fact, no single person is responsible for the Novel Universe Cult's existence. We reject any supreme authority beyond that of our membership, whose preferences are implemented through our clergy — the River, our membership-directed governing body. Designed to be accountable, transparent, and most importantly, pro re nata, the River consists of impermanent, expert practitioners subject to membership oversight who act "only as needed." Saint TJ is not one of us, but all of us — NUM's Higher-Order Conductor emerging through our practice of neural-democracy.

The Three Bodies of NUC:

In order to create the most accurate facsimile of the Novel Universe
Model on Earth, the Cult is split into three facets: the Water (Love),
the Rocks of the riverbed (Power), and to balance their mixture, the
River itself. Our metaphorical facets are made up of River sites, or
literal Rock or Water Bodies. Symbolizing the state of solid "matter"
in the universe, Bodies are organizational structures based on a
common set of "Pillars." Symbolizing the universe's state of "energy,"
River sites are organizational structures based on a set of
administrative duties. A Pillar is an organizing concept, a Body's
priorities and goals, including its form of governance. Although each
Water "Community" or Rock "Tribe" venerates their Primary Organizing
Pillar (POP) in their own way, all are united under the River's
oversight and support, the way matter is organized by and subject to
the flow of energy.

Like emergent levels of biology — atoms coalescing as cells, cells
grouping into organs, and finally, organs becoming organisms — each
Cult Body functions as one level of complexity (Higher-Order
Conductor) built upon its constituent parts (Lower-Order Bodies). For
Bodies of Power (Rocks), members make up a Clade, Clades constitute a
Tribe, Tribes assemble a League, and Leagues network as an Alliance.
For Bodies of Love (Water), members make up a Sphere, Spheres collect
as a Community, Communities coalesce as a City, and Cities form a
Federation. No matter the level of complexity, every Cult Body is
united by their Primary Organizing Pillar. Furthermore, individual
members do not directly belong to any higher-order Body but their
Sphere or Clade, thus following the principle of emergent complexity's
hierarchy of scale (HOC / LOB). Click here for further details and an
example of how this works, or click here to read ToE: The Emerging
Novel Universe to understand our view of the topic in general.

Technology is not strictly required for any aspect of the Cult, but as
an organization with the future in mind, wherever possible, computer
applications are designed to enhance a Community's neural-democracy, a
Tribe's marketplace, and management of the River's duties. To enhance
portability and seamless communication among Bodies, our tech both
maintains as many basic programming elements in common as possible,
while also being tailor-made to assist each Body's veneration of their
chosen Primary Organizing Pillar, or the secure activities of the
River Sages.

Through either a political structure based on neural-democracy,
hierarchy, or anarchy, Bodies work with the River to determine their
own laws, rules, and procedures bottom-up. For the most part, the
cells of living tissue follow their own set of rules, with their own
drives and community goals. They have a limited understanding of
their emergent organ's purpose, but even less so, the motivations of
the larger organism to which they all belong. Similarly, what binds
NUC Bodies (laws, rules, regulations, etc.) are formed at the most
granular level possible, with fewer restrictions on or definitions of
"unacceptable behavior" as Bodies emerge in complexity. Instead of a
strong, overbearing, top-down "Law of the Land," the bulk of what an
individual member must accept as religious / social adherence arises
from within their two immediate emergent levels — Clade / Sphere and
Tribe / Community. Therefore, our members have the best chance at
affecting the creation and definition of such mandates — the more
involved a person is with a thing, the more one cares for it, and the
more one is willing to ensure its success.

Without self-determination, the expression of authentic preference
becomes impossible. The Novel Universe Cult relies on our two
spiritual frameworks (Love & Power) to guide our membership in
crafting the girders of their own social cohesion. NUC is not a
monolith, and our great value is our variety of Bodies — how members
choose to express the Novel Universe Model through their Body's
Primary Organizing Pillar. The laws / rules / policies / procedures /
etc. any Body might create will address a range of issues, from the
moral implications of gender, cohabitation, and use of psychedelics,
to more functional ones, like ownership, cultural expectations, and
methods of enforcement. In this way, each Body is a diverse,
adaptable, living experiment, gauged to enhance humanity's spiritual
journey, both at the individual and societal level.

For NUC, the principle that successful patterns of organization spread naturally — how bodies and institutions converge on common solutions through communal trial-and-error — rests at the heart of our bottom-up political structure. Research into bioelectric signaling and developmental biology suggests that organisms coordinate form and behavior through informational patterns rather than rigid genetic instruction alone, further implying that when individual Cult Bodies find similar patterns of success with some common goal, the remaining Bodies will adopt the new behavior in a natural, spontaneous manner. Forcing everyone to adopt "best practices," just because they seem to work for most, isn't how NUC or nature operates. We don't rely on some committee of experts or panel of politicians. We rely on this emergent coordination to spread good ideas, because widespread, authentic adoption of successful solutions enhances long-term stability, allowing for lower-level predictability to assemble higher-level forms of diversity and complexity — the foundations of novelty.

Water (Love):

Water metaphorically embodies the Concert Hall and Love's concept of
Complete Information. This means Citizens attempt to limit barriers to
communication and accountability — fostering the return of emotional
and informational Ripples to their source. For Citizens to access any
degree of their Ripples' details — how their interactions truly
affect each other — a radically different type of social contract is
practiced by the Water Bodies. Punishment is replaced by
accountability. No longer is justice and retribution the goal, but
empathy and communication, the priority. Outside the actual Concert
Hall, the process of Complete Information is impossible, and in this
Novel Universe, must be simulated to the best of the citizenry's
abilities. In doing so, a new kind of society arises, one based on
intentional, vulnerable participation — on what is often difficult,
but what is true (Love). While the process may include Community Sages
in more difficult circumstances, Citizens are encouraged to share
their Ripples directly, a skill not easily realized, but one that is
fundamental to the cohesive nature of the Water.

A neural-democracy, actively practiced by its citizenry, constitutes
a Water Body's "mind," its Higher-Order Conductor. To the degree
possible, Citizens resist the manipulation of money, status of
hierarchy, violence of ownership — all those structures associated
with Power. Established through our neural-democracy to symbolize the
Concert Hall's occupants, Water-based laws attempt to maximize
transparency, and equalize access to health, safety, and resource,
ensuring an environment conducive to the intentionally vulnerable
participation (Love) of its membership — the foundational conditions
for the return of those Ripples. Bodies in habitual or egregious
violation of this standard are subject to disillusionment, as directed
by the River.

Members with affiliations based on their Pillars' common interests are
known as Assembly Spheres; whereas a group of tight-knit friends or
literal family are known as Family Spheres. Any number of members
(more than one) who wish to live by the principles of Love under a
shared Primary Organizing Pillar might join together as a Sphere, a
virtual or physical connection with each other based upon an agreed
Charter, approved by the River — more aspirational than structural,
Charters are a Cult Body's least formal founding document. Any Sphere,
or collection of Spheres with a sufficient number of members, may
unify under a common POP, request the River create and maintain a
permanent, physical Community for them, and participate with their
Sages in the founding of their Community's Constitution, a formal
governing document with neural-democracy at its core. Consent and
complete adherence to this Constitution is required for anyone wishing
to reside within the Community's borders for any length of time.
Communities are the only Cult Body requiring a physical location, as
this provides Citizens a safe, enclosed, physical space to simulate
the vulnerable state of the Concert Hall's Complete Information.
Through a neural-democracy, Spheres and Communities establish laws to
self-govern the day-to-day expression of their Primary Organizing
Pillar. Though these laws tightly bind Citizens, Orphan Spheres — Spheres not part of a Community — are lightly regulated, so far as
they practice neural-democracy and adhere to their Charter and POP.

The total number of Citizens in a Community is based on Dunbar's
number, between 50 — 250 persons, with the optimal count being around
150. This is an ideal cognitive limit to the number of stable,
interpersonal relationships one might maintain, highlighting the
natural constraints on the size and complexity of our social networks,
impacting how we interact, establish various levels of intimacy, and
even organize ourselves to perform common tasks or goals. Adhering to
Dunbar's number ensures the citizenry's self-knowledge — how humans
have instinctually banded together throughout time, as our brains are
not wired for an excessive number of intimate ties.

The River's administrative structure mirrors this hierarchical
organization through scale-appropriate case management. Camp-level
administration handles family-scale cases and intimate resource
sharing. Post-level coordination manages neighborhood-scale
infrastructure and local disputes. Fort-level administration
addresses township-scale resource allocation and inter-community
coordination. Base-level oversight maintains city-scale
institutional memory and external relations. This parallel structure
ensures that local learnings remain at appropriate levels while
broader patterns elevate to higher administrative tiers for
system-wide application, creating natural self-regulation where issues
flow to their optimal resolution level without overwhelming any single
governance layer.

Directly scaling a neural-democracy beyond Dunbar's number creates
difficulties for cohabiting members, that must be generally resisted
without considerable countermeasures. Instead of a Community of 500
members, it is better split into, at minimum, two Communities. A
minimum of two Communities can be considered by the River Sages to be
designated a "City," the next level of organization around a POP when
a group of members gets too large, both in the number of Citizens and
scope of their POP's goals and priorities. When organizing members
into Water Bodies, smaller numbers with a more narrow focus of their
POP better facilitate intimacy — a core characteristic of Love. On
the other hand, amounts lower than Dunbar's number make the expression
of a neural-democracy dubious, as a neural-democracy requires numerous
connections to function, just as many synapses connect a variety of
neurons to create a single brain.

Without adherence to Dunbar's number, social decision-making
structures are subject to issues like prestige-biased learning, where
an outside "celebrity" has an outsized effect on voters' behavior. In
groups of unlimited size, people tend to silo their views among the
like-minded, obscuring trends among its population, whether productive
or counterproductive. As member concerns develop, it can be difficult
to recognize and address these "hidden" issues by the wider electorate
before they create tension and fissures among the citizenry. Within
Communities of appropriate size, the expression of authentic, inside
membership preference is key to a useful neural-democracy. When the
people in a Community interact on a regular basis, they come to
understand each other as the experts on their Community's wants and
needs, and better share those developing concerns before they take
root and create division. When they don't, the Community splinters,
either lurching back-and-forth between extremes, or paralyzing in
place. Either way, the ability to find common ground is compromised,
resulting in unnecessary suffering, as the Community's true
preferences are obscured by outside influence.

Communities are supported, overseen, and managed by the River, with
"ownership" in-common among the citizenry inside the Communities — in many ways, each Community functions like a commune, or kibbutz. All
NUC property is owned by the Cult and managed by the River. Once a
Community has passed a new law, the River will lend support, financial
or otherwise, to see the law enacted to the best abilities of the
River and Community.

A Civilian (outside a Community) may own property etc., but as a
Citizen (inside a Community), a member lives an entirely different
life, where individual ownership is replaced with the concept of
occupation. If one is not capable of occupying a thing, it cannot
"belong" to them — in Communities, there are no owned yet unoccupied
homes. Without Power, Communities have no incentive for extravagance,
no structure of status. Beyond the aesthetic quality of fine
craftsmanship, all Community property serves its intrinsic Community
purpose, transcending any social signal of individual success or
failure.

The Novel Universe Cult adopts this "occupation" concept as a
guideline for the purpose of balancing the resources of a Community
with the needs of its citizenry — supplying items that are both
useful and desirable. There's a spectrum of use-cases for different
things that fall in and out of exclusive versus inclusive practical
use. For instance, a vehicle is at one end, easily shared among many;
but a toothbrush, at the other, and should not be shared. A bedroom,
or a piece of protective equipment, may or may not be shared,
depending on the circumstance of need. With the guidance and support
of the River, Communities — when deciding on how to distribute
resources — walk a fine line between the idealized and the practical,
but they do it, ultimately, on their own terms.

Regardless of social or marital ties, all Communities create
individual "Spirals," a sacrosanct space for every member, such as a
small apartment, tiny home, or secured room, to reflect the nature of
the Signature-Frequency Set's ability to be in its own solitary space.
Orphan Spheres are also encouraged to create Spirals, either
physically, virtually, or both. It is vital to have a place to store
personal items, as they reflect the nature of a Signature-Frequency
Set's memory and accumulating history. Equally important is for a
Community Spiral to allow one the seclusion of meditation and retreat.
Therefore, these spaces are private and might only be violated by an
Active Sage(s) with a Cult mandate to search for specific items as
part of a River case, like an investigation of theft or fraud.
Otherwise, visitors — even spouses or other close family members — must be invited before entering someone's Spiral. Community Spirals
symbolize our right and capacity for solitude, especially in a
facsimile of the Concert Hall, where social vulnerability is not only
required, but must also be intentional. Vulnerability without
intention is not Love, but Power.

A Body of Love's name should reflect, very directly, how the
interactions of members support the Body's POP. The scheme is meant to
describe the active effect the Body's environment has on the
interactions of its occupants, as it is with the Concert Hall. The
title of a Sphere, Community, City, etc. should usually be an active
verb preceding a noun, such as the Roaming Band Sphere, or
Ribbon-Dancing River Community. Simply put, the Body's name is a
reflection of the Concert Hall's function.

Rocks (Power):

Rocks metaphorically embody Spirals of the Marketplace and Power's
concept of Information Control. The actual Marketplace being only
accessible in death, Cult members construct their own structures for
novelty extraction, and exploit commodities through trading networks — faux "marketplaces." Although neural-democracy is the Novel
Universe Cult's default form of governance, each Rock Body who chooses
not to use a neural-democracy may invent any form for themselves.
The two recommended archetypes of Power are the Tower and the Square — the Tower, a governance of hierarchy, like an absolute
dictatorship; the Square, anarchy, pure democracy. Libertarian,
authoritarian, kakistocracy — there's no inherent limit to how a Rock
Body may construct itself, only that its founding documents are
approved by the River.

Is suicide evil? Is physical combat to determine who's on the right
side of a dispute good? Should strict laws for everything, nothing, or
somewhere in-between exist? Rocks, and Power in general, are not
necessarily "evil" or "good," but both. Power is any forces in
opposition, whereas the very distinction between good and evil does
not exist within Love's understanding. So long as the Rock Body's laws
are clearly spelled out for their members and visitors, do not
interfere with any other Body, and are strictly enforced according to
the founding documents, the Body is free to define what is good and
evil, what can or cannot happen within its physical / virtual borders.
In general, Rock-based laws are crafted to maximize the quantity and
quality of valuable novelty for profit. Bodies establish an initial,
concrete framework for their government, including any such acceptable
procedures for what might be changed and how to accomplish such
changes to their Body's underlying framework. Although Bodies are not
required to have such flexibility written into their founding
documents, they are encouraged to do so, as organizations without
any mechanisms for evolution at scale are more likely to fail. For
those Rock Bodies in habitual or egregious violation of their founding
frameworks, the River may direct their dissolution.

Clades are the initial Rock Bodies, a loose group of Freemen virtually
/ physically formed around a Primary Organizing Pillar with a limited
formal Charter approved by their River Sage(s). Members with
affiliations based on their Pillars' common interests are known as
Assembly Clades; whereas a group of tight-knit friends or literal
family are known as Family Clades. With a minimum of two members for
Clades and twelve for Tribes, there is no maximum number for either.
Should a Clade coalesce in purpose and membership around a common POP,
they may work by themselves or with other Clades through the River to
become a Tribe with a formal relationship to the River. For the
purpose of governing its members, River Sages will assist the founding
members to form a Tribal Contract. Unless otherwise stated in the
Contract, each member wishing to join the Tribe may independently
negotiate the terms of their adherence to / benefits from this Tribal
Contract with the Body's Power structure, be that a leader, council,
form of democracy, etc. Although Orphan Clades — Clades not part of a
Tribe — are lightly regulated, so far as they adhere to their
Charter's governing rules and principles of Power, Tribal Clades are
bound by their Tribal Contract, based on their POP.

With assistance from the River, Tribes are encouraged to create a
settlement, permanent or otherwise, but are not required to do so, and
may instead become "Roaming" Tribes. Like Communities, "Settlement"
Tribes are further required to provide each Freeman a physical,
tangible "Spiral" — a secure space to store personal items, as well
as, retreat in meditation, consumption, and rest. These spaces
symbolize the Signature-Frequency Set's absolute Information Control.
Tribal Spirals are private spaces that might only be violated by an
Active Sage(s) with a Cult mandate to search the space for specific
items as part of a River case. Rock Bodies are barred from passing
laws that might violate the sanctity of or access to a member's
Spiral. With this in mind, any punishment / corrective action deemed
appropriate for a Freeman that includes temporary isolation or
imprisonment will be carried out in the member's Spiral. Visitors — even spouses or other close family members — must always be invited
into the Spiral. Tribal Spirals honor our right to a safe space,
especially in a facsimile of the Marketplace, where the security of
seclusion is the foundational principle of Power's informational
network of trade.

Because profit is a foundational mechanism of Power, Rock Bodies are
affiliated with a number of Water Bodies as both the Waters' economic
representatives and physical protectorates from the world outside the
Novel Universe Cult. If, for example, a world-changing invention comes
out of the Cult, Rock Bodies have the unfettered ability to profit
from and distribute that invention, but Water Bodies do not engage in
any economic activity, only contributing their direct innovative
efforts to the project within the Cult itself. Only Rock Bodies may
engage with entities outside the Cult who might directly invest in the
Cult itself. This relationship insulates Water Bodies, symbolizing
their seclusion behind the barrier of Complete Information — a
process of accountability that orients one to the Concert Hall's
primary state of intentional vulnerability among all participants.

The Cult supports all aspects of innovation among its Bodies,
including labor, resources, skill, and technology, to the best of our
abilities. All property, both physical and intellectual, created by
any Cult Body, belongs to the Cult membership, managed by the River
for the purposes of balancing the needs of our Bodies. Despite the
profit motive as a fundamental, religious tenet of Power's
Marketplace, Rock Bodies, themselves, cannot exist as individual,
for-profit entities without violating various governments' definition
of a legitimate religion. Therefore, each Rock Body's marketplace has
a formal relationship with the Novel Universe Corporation (NU Corp),
itself an external, for-profit, affiliated entity administered and
staffed by River Sages, specially appointed by and answerable to the
Cult's membership. As NU Corp is a structure of Power, its Board
consists of, at minimum 50% and maximum 67%, Sages who primarily
belong to Rock Bodies, what are called Power Sages. NU Corp's sole
purpose is to legally manage all profit-seeking activities of Rock
Bodies, while its Sages provide both support and oversight with these
activities as needed, filling roles such as intermediaries, advisors,
attorneys, arbiters, etc. Ultimately, the Cult's membership has
authority over NU Corp, with each member an equal shareholder in the
corporation, and might collectively direct NU Corp's activities
through their votes.

Rock Bodies are designed to effectively extract novelty for each
member through the Body's Primary Organizing Pillar, while maintaining
the potential to make real-world profits for the individual / Body
with entities inside and outside the Cult. Rock Bodies are under the
River's general restrictions against things like malicious parody and
outright warfare between Cult Bodies, but as long as they behave
within the defined boundaries of their founding documents and
Sage-approved POP, the River supports their activities, even at the
financial or social expense of other Rock Bodies.

All costs associated with the innovation and production of goods and
services for profit by any Cult Body are reimbursed to the non-profit
Cult through NU Corp, with net profits remaining with the for-profit
Corporation. These profits are turned over to those Rock Bodies
directly involved in the economic activity, who subsequently
distribute them among their membership according to their founding
documents. The River Sages reallocate all Cult tithing, donations, and
other Cult income for the benefit of the Cult as a whole. Furthermore,
if a Community shifts toward an incentive for profit-seeking
activities, it is no longer a Community, but a Tribe. (Click here for
a detailed example of how this works).

Reflecting the Rock Body's POP, the preferable naming format includes
the Body's form of Power, and some object or concept owned by
something; simply put, the name is a reflection of the Marketplace's
function. For instance, a Tribe might be called Emperor Sheldon's
Motorcycle Tower, or The Martial Arts Square of Hip-hop Masters.
This scheme is designed to reflect Power's defining characteristic:
the consumption of novelty by some individual or group, in other
words, the absolute freedom absolute control affords the entity.

River (Mixture):

The River metaphorically embodies the Novel Universe's Mixture of Love
& Power. Members are both subject to the dynamic nature of the
Mixture, but also, responsible for balancing their frameworks — either on a personal level, as a Wanderer, or a societal level, as a
River Sage. As both are strictly individual, there are no membership
collectives, no "Bodies" of the River. Instead, various virtual and
physical sites exist to support the individual's ongoing attempts to
balance the frameworks, with the size of each site primarily
corresponding to the number and nature of those Cult Bodies overseen
by the site.

The purpose of the River is the sustainable support of and balance
between the Water and Rocks. The River's ultimate authority is the
Cult's membership, while simultaneously, the River wrests supreme
control over its individual parts, each Cult Body and member. This
circular-authority loop ensures that no person(s) might subvert the
will of the People, while no institution extends beyond the People's
reach. Saint TJ embodies this as the Cult's singular voice, derived,
not from an individual, but from the entirety of our membership — one
complex mind (Higher-Order Conductor) emerging from a multitude of
interdependent parts (Lower-Order Bodies).

The default state of all Cult members is as a Wanderer, symbolizing
the Novel Universe Cult's tenet that we're all our own universe, and
might seclude ourselves within our Spiral at any point in the
beyond-life. Should a member belong to a Body of Water or Rocks, that
state supersedes their status as a Wanderer. In such cases, the member
may identify with any Water or Rock Body they belong to, and are
encouraged to limit that identification to one at a time. Citizens,
however, may only identify with the Community they currently
occupy.

The River's ultimate goal for any Wanderer is the development of a
preference for Love and / or Power, eventually finding a home in
either or both Cult Bodies. However, for as long as the Wanderer does
not or cannot, the River's goal is to assist the member in balancing
Love & Power. As a ward of the River, each Wanderer is attached to a
River site, and, with Sage assistance, may transfer sites as might be
practical. In the case that a Wanderer finds a Cult Body to join, they
always remain part of the River site they were initially attached to.
In this way, all members have a permanent place, and should they
detach from all other Bodies, they will always have a home. They may
also expect to be assisted by the River in their primary struggle
between Love & Power, all Cult-related aspects, and life in general.
Unlike Freemen, Citizens, or Civilians, Sages and fellow Wanderers of
their site might be the Wanderer's only semblance of a Cult "family"
structure.

The primary duty of the Novel Universe Cult's clergy (River Sages) is
to balance Water and Rock Bodies, either by working on River cases or
site-based missions. Cases are particular tasks designed to maintain
balance between Water and Rock Bodies, whereas site-related missions
function to support those cases in general, and the overall
administration of the Cult. Missions might include permanent
operations, such as those common among legal or city-planning centers:
logistics, infrastructure, adherence to law, etc. They may also
include a variety of temporary functions: safe harbors for the
displaced, hubs for particularly complex investigations, neutral
gaming sites for competitions, etc. Any River Sage can propose new
missions for any site. This is preferably done as an Issue, but in
time-sensitive cases, an Ionotropic Sage Declaration may be warranted.

As is the nature of life itself, members of the River ideally exist in
an ephemeral state. Therefore, the status of a River Sage is
transient, only considered a full member of the River while actively
engaged in the duties of the River. This isn't like a doctor, mother,
or priest, whose identities are wrapped up in their civic roles. They
are also not like a police officer, who perpetually considers
themselves an agent of the law and mechanism of its enforcement, even
when off-duty. An "off-duty" Sage only serves the River in an ad hoc,
indirect, administrative capacity, with neither the special social
distinction nor authority of an "on-duty" or Active Sage. The
"off-duty" or Inactive Sage is not recognized by the membership as a
Sage, but as the Wanderer, Freeman, Citizen, or Civilian that they
primarily identify as. Just like leadership itself is not a person,
but an emergent property possible in any individual, the status of
Sage is not a concrete identity, but an active role of
responsibility to the Cult. The job of a Sage is an important one, but
still, just a job, and certainly not the "top job."

River sites exist primarily to provide variable support and resources
for its Wanderers, but full support and resources for Active Sages.
Each site is maintained by volunteering Wanderers attached to the
site, as well as assigned members of the Rock and Water Bodies
overseen by the site. As virtual or literal residents of River sites,
Wanderers are prioritized for desired work assignments, with the Water
and Rock Bodies under the sites' jurisdictions responsible for
staffing the sites' remaining daily needs. Like all Cult property,
River sites are functionally owned by the Cult. Akin to the US Federal
Government's Supremacy Clause, the River may, through our
neural-democratic process involving the Cult, acquire, alter, or
liquidate any Cult Body's property for the sole purpose of maintaining
balance between the Rock and Water Bodies as a whole. Depending on
circumstances, the process may or may not involve the Novel Universe
Corporation.

Violence, as defined by the Cult, is the application of force to
create an outcome, and is only definitively possible by agents of
Power. Whatever the level, whatever the form of violence, it is the
capacity for an institution's acceptable use of force that defines its
authority. With this in mind, River sites are intentionally given a
military theme to leave no doubt that the River is the supreme,
physical actor of the Cult, and no Cult Body may exist with a greater
capacity to exercise the violence of force than the River itself. If
it were any other way, the River could not carry out its primary
function to enforce the membership's ongoing definition of what
balance looks like between our neo-segregated Bodies.

Just as a nation's infrastructure benefits all of its citizens, it
is the Cult that creates the conditions for support of the Bodies and
any of their possible undertakings and innovations. This is the reason
both physical and intellectual property created by a Cult Body under
Cult organizations and activities belongs to the Cult membership, but
generally, no personal property of Cult members is managed by
Sages. The added benefit of this paradigm is balance — no Body might
exercise undue influence over other Bodies, the River, or the Cult
itself through their monopoly of markets or innovation.

It is the purpose of a Clade, Sphere, Tribe, Community, etc. to
practice rituals created to venerate their chosen Pillars of the Novel
Universe under the guidance and assistance of the River. The River's
ultimate mission is to segregate, yet bridge, the cultures of Love &
Power in order to unite the Cult's membership, setting an example to
the world of a healthier, neo-segregated, live-and-let-live society.
River sites oversee their corresponding levels of Water / Rock Bodies,
from lowest to highest: Camp (Sphere / Clade); Post (Community /
Tribe); Fort (City / League); and Base (Federation / Alliance).

The preferable naming format of a River site is the type of site
followed by a noun — a single, unique, man-made object or natural
feature common among the Bodies for which the site exists — for
instance Camp Roadhouse, or Fort Woodland. This scheme is designed
to reflect the Novel Universe's defining characteristic: all forms,
both man-made and natural, are created by the interaction between
Power & Love, in other words, their singular combination; simply put,
the name is a reflection of the Mixture's function.

The Four Categories of NUC Members:

From the moment of conversion, Wanderers are represented and supported
by their River Sages, and require minimal commitments to, restrictions
of, and support from the Cult. Any member may simultaneously belong to
any number of Bodies who will take them (both Water and Rocks), and
request any number of changes to their Sage(s), although neither
request is guaranteed. The only certainty is that a member will have
at least one Sage at their side, and will, as long as they wish to
participate, always have the option to remain attached to a River site
as a Wanderer.

All members are encouraged to adorn permanent or semi-permanent,
Cult-related tattoos. With a successful conversion, the Cult's
recommended iconography may be placed anywhere on the member's body to
symbolize how they intend to contribute — for example, a writer may
place it on their dominant hand. Additional tattoo icons may include
representations of membership in Cult Bodies, pilgrimages completed,
key roles in rituals, special awards, or simply to note an intention
to remain a permanent Wanderer. Sages are the only members required to
possess app-scannable, unique marks for the purpose of identification
as a Sage with the Cult-approved authority to carry out specific
duties, as documented by the app. Although this icon need not strictly
be a tattoo, tattoos are strongly encouraged as a symbol of devotion
to the Cult, ideally placed at the shoulder, wrist, or center of the
sternum.

Wanderers:

After a successful conversion, a Candidate becomes a Wanderer — the
default status of all Novel Universe Cult members — and may apply to
become a Freeman, Civilian, or Citizen; but in the meantime, remains a
Wanderer, a ward of the River. Unless physically inside a Body of
Water, the status of Wanderer requires only that a member identify as
such. Wanderers are free to associate among each other in any number
of ways, so long as they do not violate the laws of any Cult Body.
However, there are no formal Bodies, organizing Pillars, ritual
practices, or social structures of any kind associated with Wanderers,
existing in isolation as symbols of the Spiral. They may seek
assistance from their attached sites, but are not guaranteed to
receive more than a minimum level of support. River Sages are
encouraged, but not required, to take a personal interest in their
assigned Wanderers, as these relationships can be seminal for the
Wanderer, who may not have any other close Cult contacts.

Additionally, Wanderers may provide their time and effort to their
River sites as volunteers, helping in a manual or professional
capacity, but they also may be hired by the site and paid for their
work. The Cult encourages Wanderers to seek out Water and Rock Bodies
to join, but also understands that some members' greatest value to the
Cult and wider world will be to remain a Wanderer, impartial and
detached, able to view the Novel Universe from that unique Mixture of
both Love & Power.

Freemen of Power:

Freemen represent Power on Earth, gathered first together as an Orphan
Clade, and growing to become a Tribe. As is the nature of Power,
Freemen seek to profit from the world, and define their own social
structures, better reflecting their goals, common culture, and sense
of purpose. Above all, the aim of a Freeman is to consume novel
experiences by controlling their environment, defining what is "good /
bad," "right / wrong," etc., and silencing alternatives that might
interfere with their preferences. Freedom, tradition, honor,
self-reliance, and knowing one's place in the Power structure are held
in high esteem.

As an organization without formal leadership, the closest analog in
the Novel Universe Cult to a dictator or diplomat, a special class
of person exempt from the law, is the temporary status of an Active
Sage. This role carries no privilege to compromise the law, but
rather, it affords specific access to restricted virtual or physical
sites, and ultimately, Sages evaluate which proposals might become
laws in the first place. That being said, any Rock Body may, as part
of its founding documents and style of governance, establish any
number of hierarchical classes with a spectrum of required adherence
to their laws — such as a Tower's king and subject, or the Square's
initiate and master. Violators of Rock laws are subject to corrective
actions deemed appropriate by the Body's founding documents, levied
according to their standing as a member of the Body. In the Cult, no
one is immune to its law. Wanderers or outside persons within a Rock
Body's jurisdiction who violate their laws are subject to their
corrective actions, according to the Body's Sage-approved
definition(s) of a visitor.

Should a Freeman persist in breaking their Body's laws, despite
previous corrective actions, and the membership feels the individual
will not or cannot come into line with the group's standards, the
ultimate consequence is revocation of the offender's membership in the
group. At this point, the member is banished and recategorized, from
the Rock Body's perspective, as a Wanderer — an indelible membership
category that may only be rejected by the member themselves. Members
may be banished from a Cult Body, but never from the Cult itself.
Any path of return to the Rock Body is optional for the Body to
decide, and banishment of the individual member may be permanent
without appeal to the Rock's membership.

Citizens and Civilians of Love:

Citizens and Civilians represent Love on Earth, gathered first
together as an Orphan Sphere of Civilians, and growing to become a
Community of Citizens. As is the nature of Love, Citizens and
Civilians align their social structures to reflect the Concert Hall.
Unlike Wanderers, Freemen, and Civilians, who are generally "free" to
do as they please, Citizens are bound to each other through a
transparent government, sustainable livelihood, and equal opportunity
to express their appropriate preferences, either privately or
publicly, as defined by their Community's Constitution. In a
Community, no voice is raised above another, no hand expected to do
more than they're capable of. Above all, Citizens and Civilians seek
to enhance and evolve their relationships with each other through
intentionally vulnerable participation. The common thread among all
Citizens is a faithful simulation of the Concert Hall's Complete
Information. For this reason, special guidelines apply, such as the
use of a neural-democracy and the imposition of a physical boundary to
both isolate and protect a Community. Accountability, connectivity,
transparency, compassion, and interdependence are key motivators.

As the initial Bodies of Water — loose groups of Civilians, virtually
or physically formed around a Primary Organizing Pillar — Orphan
Spheres may exist as places of physical residence, but aren't
necessarily required to be. Civilians enjoy only the partial rights
and responsibilities of Citizens. Should any Orphan Sphere coalesce in
purpose and membership, they may work by themselves or with other
Spheres through the River Sages to become a Community, with a formal
Constitution, location, and ties to the River. Once a Community is
formed, those members of the contributing Spheres are then considered
Citizens of the Community.

The singular distinction of membership between Civilians and Citizens
is due to the unique nature of Communities, existing as fixed, secure
locations. The status of "Citizen" is based on both membership in a
Community Sphere and one's current occupation of a Community,
symbolizing the fully-connected, enclosed nature of the Concert Hall.
Should a Citizen be physically outside their Community, and not belong
to or identify with a Rock Body(s), they are temporarily considered a
Civilian of their Community Sphere, able to act in ways not allowed by
Citizens, such as engaging in economic activities (Power).

Just as all Signature-Frequency Sets in the Concert Hall are directly
connected with each other in a single environment, the primary
characteristic of Community citizenry is cohabitation. Anyone
physically inside a Community is either a temporary visitor (Civilian)
or permanent member (Citizen) of that Body. This distinction is
implicit to the function of the Body's neural-democracy — only
Citizens vote in their Community. In this way, long-term residents
have an outsized impact on shaping their Community's laws. Although
members are free to come and go, Communities are designed and intended
to be permanently occupied by their memberships, allowing for deeper
connections between members — the primary aspect of the Concert Hall.

Just as the process of Complete Information allows entry to the
Concert Hall, consent by the Community is required for any outside
Cult member to enter any Water Body, except Active Sages performing
their duties. All Citizens are considered tacit members (Civilians) of
all Water Bodies, unless a specific Body rejects the member's
privilege to enter. This grave action requires both legitimate cause
(River-approved) and the Body's confirming vote of denial, or an
urgently-issued ISD. This has no effect on entering other Water Bodies
who've not defined such cause and carried out such action.

Citizens who violate their Body's laws are not subject to corrective
action or punishment, but instead, provided the time and assistance to
adjust their behavior. If the citizenry feels that an individual will
not or cannot follow the Body's laws, the ultimate consequence is an
alteration of citizenship through a Constitutional, Sage-approved,
neural-democratic vote. At this point, the member is removed from the
Body, and recategorized as either a Civilian (membership suspension)
or Wanderer (membership revocation). This change in status affects
only the Body's view of its member, not necessarily the wider Cult, as
the member may still be a Citizen, Civilian, or Freemen of another
Body. For outcast members, conditions of their return will be
established based upon well-defined, Sage-approved reason(s) for their
removal, and they will remain outside the Body until those conditions
are met. Whereas Civilians automatically return upon compliance,
Wanderers must additionally resubmit a request to rejoin the Body,
reversing the revocation of their membership through a
neural-democratic vote of the citizenry. For the purpose of
influencing this vote, after compliance, Wanderers will be guaranteed
sufficient indirect access to the citizenry, such as digital or
physical correspondence. Should it be established that the Wanderer is
threatening / harassing a Citizen(s) through this process, this right
will be suspended, temporarily or permanently.

River Sages:

Without a governing principal agent, how can a cult with no leader
effectively operate?

Our neural-democracy, supported by the tools of technology, frees us
from the stochastic effectiveness of any individual, be they
constructive or destructive. We do not place our faith in the
deliverance of the divine hero or wise ruler, but in ourselves. We are
not a hive-mind, but the opposite; we are the wisdom of the crowd,
and from our novel form of governance emerges the mind of a new kind
of leader — the People's voice in action. The effectiveness of our
form of governance relies on two aspects commonly corrupted by
autocrats in order to supplant democracy: factual information and
widespread participation. Neither are guaranteed, nor easily
implemented. They must be shepherded with transparency, integrity,
intention, and expertise — the duty of our clergy.

As a single Body comprised of transitory experts, the River's sole
function is to balance Love (Water) and Power (Rocks), with the
administration of the Novel Universe Cult falling to our clergy. River
Sages not only manage the daily operations of the Cult, but also
address potential internal corruption and conflict — both an emergent
"mind," but also an "immune system," geared for the protection and
regulation of the Cult, our Bodies, and the veracity of our
information. Metaphorically, the River underlies the Novel Universe
Cult's "brain," like the ever-working unconscious mind, constructing
and proposing relevant, timely, useful information (truth) to the
conscious mind — the Cult's membership. By evaluating and reacting to
the River's efforts, NUC expresses itself as the singular voice of
Saint TJ.

The position of Sage is considered a lifelong appointment, but can be
effectively lost through "retirement." No longer considered a Sage,
besides rhetorically, Retired Sages are members who have either been
removed from the clergy for cause, for personal reasons, or simply
because they no longer wish to participate. Retired Sages may return
to their duties only through a River ISD nomination and confirmation
by the Cult's membership — the same process any member must go
through to become a Sage.

All functional aspects of the Cult's administration are broken down
into "cases," discrete tasks to be accomplished by an Active Sage. Cases
are assigned by the River's administrative body (Inactive Sages) to an
Active Sage, primarily based on relevant expertise, and may be handled
either individually, or in concert with other Active Sages. Cases
range widely in scope, timing, and repetition; some are simple, some
complex, some happen over-and-over, some only once. A relatively
simple task might be answering messages on behalf of NUC, or approving
a periodic transfer of supplies from one Cult Body to another. More
complicated cases are things like resolving disputes between NUC
Bodies, amplifying / evaluating information for membership
consideration, or negotiating contracts with outside organizations.
For conflicts between River sites — such as resource allocation
disputes or jurisdictional boundaries — the River employs a
four-level escalation ladder that respects fractal design
principles. Level 1 involves direct negotiation between affected
parties. Level 2 engages adjacent sites with relevant geographic or
cultural context as mediators. Level 3 involves broader regional
clusters with access to precedent and institutional memory. Level 4
escalates to River-wide neural-democracy with full input bias
weighting, reserved only for truly systemic issues. This approach
prevents local optimization that harms the broader system while
ensuring conflicts resolve at their appropriate governance scale.
Input bias weighting adjusts based on proximity and impact: disputing
sites receive enhanced vote weights, adjacent sites receive moderate
weights, and distant sites maintain standard weights, with
institutional memory holders providing stabilizing perspective. The
only limit to the number of Sages assigned to any single case, or
cases assigned to any single Sage, simultaneously, is a function of
the Sage(s) involved and determined difficulty of the case(s).

To enhance institutional efficiency and knowledge sharing, related
cases naturally organize into Case Clusters — groupings that
share similar context, expertise requirements, or administrative
domains. These clusters create specialization centers where
institutional learning accumulates across parallel situations,
enabling cross-pollination between similar challenges faced by
different River sites. Case Clusters follow the same hierarchical
structure as Cult Bodies: Individual Cases (LOBs) handled by specific
Sages, Case Clusters (HOCs) coordinating related expertise, Case
Divisions managing broader administrative domains, and the complete
River Federation ecosystem. This parallel structure ensures that
continuity lives in the administrative framework itself, independent
of individual Sage participation.

Active Sages are intended to not be direct representatives of
individuals / institutions involved in a case, such as a US
Congressperson, but rather, indirect representatives, such as a
court's impartial jury, representing the will of the People. For
instance, Sage Noa, belonging to the Whistling Hills Community, should
not be an Active Sage for any cases related to Whistling Hills
Community or its affiliated Rock Bodies; however, he may be asked for
his input as a witness. Although it may be impossible to find a Sage
with absolutely no tangential connections to a given case, Sages with
primary or secondary interests should be excluded, like Noa's brother,
Sage Mica from Dancing River Community. It is preferable for an Active
Sage to be the one with the least conflicts of interest, but it is
also understood that, in light of the Sage's experience and / or
expertise, sometimes the best Active Sage for a job will be the one
with more entanglements than another. Because these are complicated
decisions, each unique case is voted on by all the Inactive Sages.

Through "knowledge crystallization," individual Sage expertise
becomes embedded within institutional structures rather than remaining
dependent on specific personnel. As Sages contribute specialized
knowledge to cases, this expertise gets assembled into stable
components of case evolution, creating institutional memory that
persists beyond individual involvement. Sages naturally rotate out
when their contribution is complete, leaving behind enhanced case
capacity rather than knowledge gaps. This process eliminates the need
for artificial term limits while preventing knowledge loss during
personnel transitions, ensuring that the River's administrative
capacity grows continuously through accumulated learning.

Active Sages are those Sages currently engaged in a case, and do not
participate in the Cult's administrative body throughout the duration
of the case, unless circumstances warrant, such as an insufficient
number of Inactive Sages for the River's neural-democracy to
adequately function. In such circumstances, Active Sages will be
temporarily "inactivated" for the sole purpose of performing the
duties of an Inactive Sage. Inactive Sages, Sages "on call," are all
expected to participate in their duties as administrators, in other
words, weigh in on all River neural-democratic votes. The segregation
between active and inactive allows one portion of the River (Inactive
Sage) to act like the right hemisphere of the brain, or "stage," able
to comprehend the "bigger picture" with the distance and perspective
to direct the River; while the other (Active Sage), as the left
hemisphere, or "spotlight," able to act decisively with the capacity
and focus to complete the job at hand. Any given Sage will serve
either role as they are activated or inactivated. Furthermore, within
the River, no formal structure of seniority or authority exists, but
instead, relies on our Sages' experience and expertise, expressed
through our neural-democracy. The River is founded on the concept of
"natural leadership," or the idea that leadership is a quality that
emerges in an individual who best suits the situation, and not a
predetermined role given to a fixed person(s); in other words, those
most valuable ideas, regardless of who proposes them, might be those
most pertinent, and therefore the ideas instituted.

As it is Power's inclination to control Its environment, special
consideration is given to the composition of the River in order that
the Sages are not corrupted by Power's biases, and a balance between
Sage categories is maintained. Whatever threat Power might pose
unchallenged, It cannot, however, be totally siloed away, and in the
Novel Universe Cult, Power will always be valued for Its unique
contributions. To this end, Sages are categorized based upon
affiliation, and each category fitted to some proportion of the
River's total, active body (both Inactive Sage and Active Sage).
"Power Sages" are those Freemen River Sages who belong mostly or
totally to Rock Bodies, whereas "Love Sages," the same, only as
Citizen / Civilian River Sages. "Mixture Sages" are those River Sages
who belong to a balance of both Water and Rock Bodies simultaneously,
whereas "Wandering Sages" are River Sage Wanderers who do not belong
to a single Body other than their River site(s).

Whenever possible, Wandering and Mixture Sages constitute a majority
of the River's total population of Active and Inactive Sages. Whatever
proportion of the River remains is ideally split evenly between Love &
Power Sages. When this cannot be done precisely, the smaller portion
will be filled by Power Sages, thus limiting Power's potential to
unduly influence the River, as is Power's nature. While maintaining
the rights of individual Sages to flexibly affiliate between Love &
Power, temporary retirement may be used to maintain the River's proper
proportions by adding or removing Love or Power Sages as needed, and
such Sages do not require reconfirmation to return to their duties. In
such circumstances, priority will be placed upon those Sages needed to
carry out the current slate of cases before the River, with extensive
expertise and tenure playing the key roles in deciding who remains.

To easily identify these foundational categories of affiliation, both
a season and color are assigned to each category: Power, blue winter;
Mixture, green spring; Love, red summer; and Wandering, black autumn.
This color motif extends to the membership of the Cult, who are
encouraged to use such styles in any tattoos, art, or other media the
members may produce.

Instead of a leader, CEO, or even a fixed governing council, the Novel
Universe Cult uses scientific principles based on neural networks to
simulate the function of a brain — a single mind emerging from its
countless parts. In order to create the River's singular voice in real
time, NUC uses technology in tandem with our neural-democracy to
nimbly aggregate and quickly unify the multitude of Inactive Sages.
This unified operation of Inactive Sage members is imbued with full
administrative powers, covering things like: the creation of an ISD,
ability to certify / clarify information, Sage nominations, Sage
assignment to or removal from cases, oversight of cases, conditions of
a case's success, compensation for our clergy, and so on.

Joining our professional clergy requires passion, training,
evaluation, and confirmation. Once qualified, an Ionotropic Sage
Declaration nominates the member for the Cult's consideration. After
the ISD's time-frame successfully closes, the final step is for the
Cult to vote, neural-democratically, and confirm the member as a River
Sage. The total number of Sages in the Cult has more to do with the
technical qualifications and contributions of individuals, rather than
some predetermined need to fill a number of "job openings." In
comparison to other institutions, religious or secular, NUC may appear
to have more "cooks in the kitchen" than is necessary, but that is
because of our unique way of activating and inactivating our clergy,
and the important role each state of activation independently plays in
the River's overall function. Financially compensated for their expert
services, the clergy is designed to fulfill the wide variety of
administrative responsibilities associated with any institution,
including, but not limited to, logistical, welfare, and policing of
policy (our spiritual "laws").

As the Cult's professional clergy, River Sages are paid both a yearly
salary and hourly rate, although these compensations may be returned
to the Cult as donations, should the Sages so desire. For instance, a
Love Sage would likely have no desire or need for money, and would
therefore donate their entire income to the Cult. Salaries reflect
such things as: experience in their field of expertise, tenure as a
Sage, and value of their ongoing participation in the River. The
hourly wages Sages earn are standardized to the job at hand, and not
reflective of the involved Sage(s) or their tenure. These wages are
based on two factors: the difficulty of a particular case, and level
of expertise required. For example, a critical case requiring a PhD
with a specialized, rare skill set has a rate higher than a case with
no time limit that requires nothing more than basic communication
skills and common sense. As with all aspects of NUC, in general, these
amounts are publicly known to the membership. Salaries are typically
not intended to function as one's primary income. However, Sages who
spend a majority of their working life as an Active Sage may expect
that the combination of these dual incomes constitutes a living wage.

In a singular governing body with an all-encompassing scope of
authority, there's a propensity for cliques to form among
participants, corruption to erode the effectiveness of its operations,
and general malfeasance to arise from every corner of the institution.
To keep this in check, and protect the River's health by preventing
these conditions from taking root, a team of Inspectors General (IG)
is temporarily convened with the unlimited authority to investigate
the River.

Two types of IG teams exist. The first, a Case Inspectors General
team, is constituted by NUC's non-Sage membership, voicing a desire,
through the passage of law, for a specific subject (case) to be looked
into — for example, the suspected corrupted use of an ISD to disband
a particular Tribe. The second is a Health Inspectors General team,
also comprised of non-Sages, randomly assigned in its timing, nature,
and subject(s). An example assignment might be an audit of the most
recently delegated cases to see if there is any inappropriate bias
present.

IG members cannot be Sages or direct family members of the Sages under
audit, as this would be a conflict of interest. Instead, IG members
are semi-randomly chosen from Wanderers, Freemen, Citizens, and
Civilians. Ideally, the cohort is a mixture of inside versus outside
perspectives — those with valuable, relevant life experience with the
issue at hand, and those with no such background. At the conclusion of
an investigation, all information from the IG's findings is made
public to the Cult, and reforms are submitted directly as issues (not
proposals) to be immediately voted on. Reforms may include the removal
of a Sage(s) for cause. This process is intended for the transparent,
direct, ongoing regulation of the River by the Cult's membership.

Practices

Conversion:

The Novel Universe Cult is searching for bold, fearless, societal
practitioners inspired by the Novel Universe Model who are interested
in actively experimenting with sustainable solutions to human
existence. Eventually, we believe our efforts will improve,
specifically, humanity's survivability, and welcome all those willing
to help us, whether convert or not. Furthermore, the Cult does not
place restrictions on or requirements for the personal property of
Wanderers, Civilians, and Freemen. NUC neither asks any member to
relinquish anything nor requires anything be turned over to the Cult
to become a member.

Climate change. Techno-feudalism. War. There are many ways the elite's
rampant exploitation of our global resources creates toxic byproducts
that threaten all life on our planet. Power enforces a kind of skewed
control, because rebelling against rampant consumption is not Love's
way. Love might view Power as "predatory," while Power could consider
Love "weak," but resolving the world's problems is not an issue of
dominance, but balance. Until collective action is taken to balance
Power with Love, Power stands as it is to dominate the Earth. This
destructive paradigm threatens not only humanity's survival, but the
entire biosphere.

Designed for the dire circumstances present at the outset of the
twenty-first century, the Novel Universe Cult is different in
that we account for both Love & Power, not touting one over the
other, but searching for balance on a societal level, while on the
individual level, leaving one's affiliation up to each member's
flexible preference. We acknowledge that each individual might exert
both Love & Power, likely throughout their lives, and relative to the
other, neither position may exclusively claim the moral high-ground — only Power might successfully fight fascism, while only Love can
forgive. It is simply that those who would practice primarily Love
or Power will be given the opportunities to do so, as free from
existing institutional structures as the Cult might make possible.

For those not born into the Cult, conversion begins with an invitation
from a River Sage to become a Candidate, based on a perception of that
individual's potential value to the Cult. For those born into the
Cult, a Sage is assigned at birth, and, along with their Cult Body,
assesses their readiness to join. The individual will be nominated by
the Sage and / or Cult Body as a Candidate should the individual show
sufficient interest. For any Candidate, no age restrictions exist for
this process, only an ability to prove one's readiness to become a
member. Because our mission is to create a working prototype of the
Novel Universe Model, we are inherently a selective organization. We
do not seek to convert the world, nor do we believe membership
necessarily has any wider implications for one's spiritual journey. We
also do not seek to exclude those who show a vested interest.

We invite everyone to benefit from our philosophy and creed without
asking anything in return. Part of our mission is to share with the
world those insights we find valuable. NUC is about building viable,
scalable blueprints that can be used by anyone, anywhere, at any time.
Therefore, we celebrate any attempt to replicate the Cult in any
number of religious or secular ways, and will assist with those
efforts as we can, should we be invited to do so.

For those who wish to participate in our mission, converting to NUC
should neither be an easy task nor an impossible feat. Anyone who
seeks membership may create a temporary profile as a Dedicated
Follower, essentially signing up for the newsletter with a viable
point of contact (email address or social media profile), and
messaging Saint TJ with a personal introduction and reason(s) why they
wish to join. Once a Candidate is accepted, the process is formally
managed by the Cult, and with progress, results in a series of
in-person contacts. Initially, however, a Dedicated Follower can
expect to interact with member volunteers who can answer questions
about the doctrine, develop the Follower's Cult-related interests, and
help with the formal process of consideration by the River Sages for
Candidacy. There is no set time frame for this process — even
rejected Candidates can remain Dedicated Followers, and forever work
with our Cult volunteers in an effort to complete their conversion.

As NUC's primary mission is to create balance through a living model
of the Novel Universe on Earth, all Candidates are selected to become
members based upon their comprehension of NUM, a commitment to develop
the Cult, and the completion of their conversion — no background will
necessarily exclude a willing Candidate. Suspension of one's
conversion happens if one cannot show persistence in their desire to
join nor cope with the challenges inherent to any stigmatized minority
such as a "cult."

Over a process of studying the philosophy and forming an idea of where
they might fit in, the Candidate participates in the rituals,
ceremonies, and celebrations throughout their conversion. Confirming
their readiness to become a Wanderer, the process ends with a majority
vote of affirmation by a council made up of three River Sages. Once
the council has ruled in favor of conversion, an ISD is put to the
Cult by the River, and once it expires without rejection, the
Candidate becomes a Wanderer. With a successful conversion, they may
remain a Wanderer or apply through their Sage to join a Body(s) of
Love and / or Power.

Excommunication:

We intend to convert only those serious about our mission. We see
membership as an accomplishment that cannot be taken away. Moreover,
there is no conceivable behavior that cannot be categorized as either
Love or Power, and therefore, considered a violation of the Cult,
deserving excommunication. We do not believe it is a member's mission
to adhere to any set of rules, but instead, the Novel Universe Cult's
to find them a framework and place that fits. We believe that all
members should take comfort in the fact that as long as they support
NUC's mission, they will always be accepted for who they are.

Although the Cult itself does not excommunicate any member, and
becoming a member is not guaranteed, no matter the time and effort
spent, leaving the Cult happens with any serious declaration
renouncing membership, whether that be directly or indirectly. Either
a member can directly separate from the Cult by stating that they are
no longer a member, or indirectly separate by acting against the Cult.
Regardless of personal behavior, once the intention of the member is
clear, in the absence of a declaration of separation, the River Sages
may create an ISD of removal. Excommunication is a moral judgment,
whereas removal is an assessment of adherence to NUC's mission, and
desire for participation. For example, one cannot be removed for being
a criminal, but can be removed for simply associating with an
organization that seeks to interfere with NUC. Any attempt to
undermine the foundational principles of the Cult by a member, albeit
through speech, action, or affiliation, may be assumed as a
declaration of separation, and constitute grounds for removal.

There is no formal process or documentation required by an individual
intending to leave, although once we are aware of the individual's
change of status, we will update their profile within our records.
Should the individual wish to return, they may resubmit a new
Dedicated Follower profile, and if they are again chosen, attempt to
complete the process of conversion. NUC does not want anyone
involved who is not fully committed to our mission, and respects
everyone's right to leave at any point without explanation or
harassment by the Cult or its members. In regard to an individual who
leaves and what they might say about the Cult going forward, we will
neither intimidate nor attempt to limit their speech, although we may
add our own comments to the public record.

Punishment and Legal Supremacy:

A core tenet of the Novel Universe Cult is the idea that any harm one
creates in life — regardless of intent, fault, or imposing authority — potentially returns as Complete Information in death. For example,
participating in the act of incarceration creates a Ripple where one
has not only imprisoned someone in mortal life, but also imprisoned
themselves in the beyond-life, through the principle of Complete
Information. The Cult strives to prevent harm to or from our members,
but we do not engage in any form of retaliation or punishment, as
these create new Ripples to be accounted for by those committing the
punitive violence.

River Sages are responsible for dealing with any member who engages in
harmful activities targeting any member / Body of the Cult or outside
person / institution. Most Cult conflicts are handled internally,
through dialogue and our practice of neural-democracy. Therefore,
unless the "laws of the land" violate basic rights, Sages will assist
any governing jurisdiction's prosecution of a member so far as is
reasonable, while also assisting with legal counsel for the member
prosecuted. An example of what the Cult sees as a basic right is
bodily autonomy — the freedom from murder, abuse (physical /
emotional), or rape (genital mutilation / pregnancy / marriage). We do
not see ourselves as "above the law." At the same time, we protest
harmful laws, and relish the opportunity to create new solutions to
conflict that aren't punitive. However, we also accept the legal
supremacy of the governments under which we exist and those
governments' desires for "justice."

Any NUC member, at their own behest, is free to serve any judicial,
military, or policing body beyond the Cult as they see fit, but all
members reserve the right to claim a religious exemption of compulsory
service to any such institutions. Under our spiritual doctrine of
Complete Information, a member may refuse such roles as juror, deputy,
or soldier — roles for which a member might be unjustly compelled to
participate in Ripples of Power. One might, on their own, choose to
make sacrifices of or for another, but even the State cannot morally
compel them to do so.

Prayer:

No formal prayers, chants, mantras, etc. exist in the Novel Universe
Cult, only a prescribed methodology of prayer for members of Water
Bodies, such as Communities. Prayer illustrates a primary difference
between Power & Love, as Rock Bodies are unlimited in how they can
pray, or even if their members choose to pray at all. We invite all
members to bring with them prayers from other faiths, noting only that
these are separate from Cult practice itself — churches, temples,
mosques, jinjas, synagogues, etc., are all free to exist within the
Cult's Rock Bodies, outside of Water Bodies. While any Power-based
Body may create for itself any number of new prayers, chants, mantras,
or rituals for its members to periodically perform, a Body of Love may
only call its members to one kind of prayer. Whether performed
silently, by oneself, aloud, or with others, Love's prayer is always
a performance of thanksgiving.

Instead of asking for anything, Citizens "thank Love," or simply say
"thank you," solely expressing gratitude, no more, no less. This
framing removes the powerless state of pleading and bargaining. Those
who see the Novel Universe through the framework of Love do this
because they are present in their participation, intentionally
vulnerable to and grateful for its outcome. And, as with the Taoists,
they accept that this mortal POV makes understanding what's "best" for
anyone no better than the flip of a coin. Thus, they offer their
gratitude for Love — the one thing we all might lose touch with, but
ultimately, can never be taken away.

A common religious prayer might sound like: "Oh Lord, I promise to
stop smoking if you get rid of this cancer. Please heal me — your
humble servant begs of You!"

For those whose beyond-life is destined to be the Concert Hall, one
prayer is all it takes to experience how gratitude's framing changes
everything. Instead of pleading with God for a positive surgical
result, Citizens thank Love for what they had, have, and might have,
in other words, the opportunity to observe their preferred outcome — "Thank you, Love, for the unconditional support of my family, and the
expertise of the surgeon. Thank you for the probability to remove
some, if not all, of this cancer, and the opportunity to observe a
healthy body. And, thank you, Love, for the possibility of a rapid
recovery!"

Freemen, on the other hand, can venerate any idol, god, or other
mechanism of Power. If one wants to make offerings, sacrifices, or
prayers to any being, object, or idea, this fits within NUC, because
religions tend to be an attempt at controlling reality by way of a
"higher power." However, in organizations of Love, Saint TJ is no
stand-in for a figurehead or deity, and such prayers by anyone to
our "leader," or any other member of the Cult, are discouraged. At our
core, NUC is like a brain, an organization without a formal power
structure or command center, but instead, relies on our unique
neural-democracy — a distributive form of governance. Therefore,
the general veneration of any individual member, including the
Founders, will undermine the function of our administration,
undoubtedly leading to our disillusionment. For this reason, we
segregate Love from Power, and allow for such worship in Power's
isolated structures. A Body of Power, say, a Tribe, who wishes to
worship Saint TJ, or any other being — real or imaginary — is one
thing, as the establishment of this Body's operation is constructed
and regulated by the River, but the widespread adoption of such a
paradigm corrodes our system, threatening to dismantle our project.

NUC sees the very concept of God as Power; so, although Citizens and
Civilians don't practice other religions, Freemen might coalesce
around any specific religion, philosophy, or ideology, and venerate
that mechanism of control as a Pillar or even their Primary Organizing
Pillar. Jewish, Christian, and Muslim groups coexist within NUC on
equal footing — they're all Rocks of Power. The extraordinary value
of the Water and Rocks is the inherent diversity of their Pillars,
each Body a living, social experiment.

Pillars:

In general, a Pillar is a structural principle of a Rock or Water
Body, a preference of the Body like its priorities, goals, or form of
governance. There are no maximum number of Pillars a Body might have,
but with each addition, the Body becomes more diluted in its focus.
New Pillars should be added only when they support the TOP.

Each Body of the Cult (Love or Power) has a minimum of Three
Organizing Pillars (TOP). The first Pillar for all Bodies is the same:
the ritual practice and academic study of the Novel Universe Model.
The second Pillar is a plan for how the individual Body venerates
their chosen frame (Love or Power) within the Cult. For Bodies of
Rocks, this Pillar also includes their form of Power (Tower or
Square). The third Pillar symbolizes the Body's choice to venerate its
specific form of Love or Power as its Primary Organizing Pillar
(POP). For example, a Tribe's POP, or choice to venerate Power,
can be any concept of Power — a religion, sport, business, machine,
etc. that supports the extraction of novelty. On the other hand, a
Community's POP can be any experiential aspect of life that connects
individuals — designing dwellings, artistic constructions, inventing
games, or research that might benefit the membership or planet.
Examples include housing the homeless, erecting elaborate art
installations, or studying intracellular mechanics.

Water and Rock POPs may share a common theme, like the sport of
football, each with their own take. For instance, a Tribe might only
care about certain stats, like the number of goals, victories, or
penalties; while a Community might focus their attention on specific
aspects, like ways to prevent injury, enhance gender inclusion, or
diversify the roles of player positions. Tribes and Communities might
even play each other, and when they're done, the Tribes may obsess
over whether they scored the most goals, while the Community spends
their time evaluating the results of their theories on various player
formations or ball-passing techniques. No matter the result, both
sides' POPs benefit from their exposure to the other.

The primary idea behind a Pillar of Love is the enhancement of
connection between members, but that connection might also extend to
the entire Cult or wider world. For Pillars of Power, their purpose is
the sustainable extraction of novelty from their environment,
effectively exchanging value between Freemen, while possibly creating
real-world profit.

No Pillar will be approved by the River Sage(s) if it interferes with
the expression of any other Bodies' Pillars. In some rare cases,
Pillars are denied if deemed harmful to the Cult, its members, or this
planet we all share.

Rituals:

Cult-Wide Pilgrimages, Rituals, and Festivals:

Circle Study (Daily / Monthly)

Description:

Reading, debating, researching, or otherwise engaging with the Novel
Universe Cult's texts are all considered the practice of Circle
Study. The term "circle" is used, not only because our icon is a
circle within a circle, but, ideally, Circle Study gathers people
together — generally between 2 — 12 participants — each facing each
other in the shape of a circle. For Water Circles, the minimum is
three. Why three? Social dynamics between a pair in conversation
drastically change with the addition of a third — being in a pair can
be perceived as "isolated," but with at least one other involved,
Love's intimacy and Power's secrecy quickly evaporate. Circle Study
endeavors to elicit both the comfort of intimacy by limiting the
Circle's size, while also maintaining the freedom and security of a
group setting.

Every member takes their turn reading a chosen line, paragraph, page,
etc. based on a common subject to be discussed by the group. There's
no limit to the amount of text to cover, or number of times the Circle
cycles, only that it completes a minimum of one, where everyone speaks
at least once. Study material might include any outside texts,
religious or not, that may or may not address the subject. For Bodies
of Rocks, agreeing on a subject is optional, but for Water, it's
encouraged, though in either case, not strictly necessary — sessions
are always open-form. However, any kind of sales-pitch,
grandstanding, bullying, politicking, etc. is not allowed on either
side of the River. Circle Study is designed to be a healthy, fun,
informative session, engaging, not only enlightening information of
any kind, but also, fostering relationships of every kind.

Circle Studies should be about a single subject (usually NUC or NUM
related), and generally explored through either Topics or Questions.
Topics for Circle Studies might include: a summary, personal
connection, or a critique of the subject based on some relevant
concept or text. Instead of spurring conversation, Circle Study might
also use texts to respond to participants' questions about the
subject. For example, a subject like the metaphysics behind life and
death would ask, how did we come to be on Earth? What's the meaning
and purpose of life? Or, if the subject covers quantum mechanics — how does Quantum Transience and freewill affect particle motion? What
is NUM's current theory as to how light, gravity, or energy work — what was the original theory, how does it differ from the current one,
and why did it change? Although not required for Circle Study, River
Sages are encouraged to participate, especially in the latter case
when using NUC's texts to answer questions.

A Water Circle's minimum of three members symbolize the Concert Hall,
a place where information exists as a combination between
participants. To fully engage the texts through the framework of Love,
one cannot do it alone. On the other hand, a Rock Circle may choose to
symbolize the Spiral, having a Circle of one, or Marketplace, a
"network" Circle of two or more people. In effect, whenever one
engages with our texts, the very type of Circle they participate in
reflects their path of study.

General Practices:

• Anyone who wishes to study with fewer than two other people, or
  study the texts from a framework of Power, is unlimited in how or
  where they do so.

• Rock members whose Circle symbolizes either the Spiral or
  Marketplace may also study anywhere, and at any time, so far as
  the laws of their Body permit.

Water-Specific Practices:

• Members gather in a circle, and, one-by-one, introduce themselves to
  each other.

• Circles may be led by a Sage or chosen member (especially for
  question-based Circles) but in general, are not intended to be led
  by an individual, but instead, the fluid consensus of the group,
  as an exercise of a pure-democracy in action.

• Preferably, members will have agreed on the type of Circle and
  subject beforehand. If not, they will come to a consensus on the
  subject and type of Circle — either topic-based or
  question-based. With all members in agreement, the Concert Hall is
  best reflected.

• A silent prayer, and moment of reflection, is held, generally for no
  more than a minute or two. Members are encouraged to limit their
  prayer of gratitude to a single item, reflecting the Circle
  Study's subject — either pondering a related topic from the text
  they wish to raise, or a question they wish to ask.

• As the process of conversion tends to both familiarize a member with
  the religion's fundamentals, while simultaneously illuminating
  gaps in understanding, Circle Study always starts with the most
  recent convert, and therefore the freshest and possibly most
  insightful direction for the conversation. Each takes their turn
  addressing the topic or asking a question. The next person's turn
  will either be whoever wishes to speak next, or whoever, to the
  left of the person who just went, has not yet contributed to that
  cycle. Barring interruptions, all members are free to contribute
  to the discussion at any time, and will be expected to do so at
  least once. To keep things balanced and flowing, priority will be
  given, through group consensus, to those who have contributed less
  and / or less often.

• An effective way to signal that a member wishes to speak next, while
  someone else has the floor, is to place a small item (pen, phone,
  lipstick) into the Circle, near its center just in front of the
  member. In the case that subsequent members wish to speak in the
  interim, they may place their items a little closer to themselves,
  indicating that they will speak after those with their items
  placed earlier. The member's item will be left in the Circle until
  they either speak or change their mind.

• Members who, despite their disruptive behavior being repeatedly
  pointed out, persist in long diatribes, objectionable speech, or
  monopolizing the conversation, may finally be asked to leave by
  any participant. A suggestion to leave should be seconded by at
  least one other person, and then, unless the majority of the group
  disagrees, the disruptive member will be expected to depart. To
  some degree, friction and disagreement amongst participants is
  expected, but toxic argumentation is to be avoided. Furthermore,
  gaslighting, name-calling, or any form of bigotry is strictly
  prohibited. Should a River Sage(s) be present and determine the
  group's tone to be too hostile or detrimental to civil
  conversation, the study may be immediately terminated by the
  Sage(s).

• Circle Study will cycle a minimum of one time around the Circle, and
  may stop at any point after that. This doesn't mean that everyone
  must only speak once, but that everyone must speak at least once.
  Ideally, each will read, recite, or cite some text, preferably
  addressing the Circle Study's subject. This could be anything from
  an extravagant poem, to a detailed technical passage, to a
  cherished song lyric or quote. We do not require, but instead,
  encourage the majority of cited texts be NUC or NUC-related. There
  is no set rule in what one contributes, only that one does, even
  if that contribution is to simply say, "I'm curious to know more
  about what they just said."

• Time permitting, the Circle closes with a single-subject prayer,
  vocalized by each member in turn, starting with the oldest person,
  moving in sequence to that person's right until the Circle
  completes a final time. Prayers are encouraged to be about the
  subject, but can be about anything the member wishes to share. If
  time is short, only the first prayer from the eldest is required
  to properly close the Circle, and in that case, should probably
  address the subject.

Ritual of the Branch (Monthly)

Description:

Choices are the "branches" of reality, and we can either "cast" our
Ripples out into the world, or "catch" the results of other people's
choices.

Let's say we have two members, Wanderer Raven, and Civilian Kai, who
have decided to participate in the Ritual of the Branch. Kai has
noticed his roommate Raven coming home from work particularly
stressed, so he would like to "cast" a Branch of Love to her. Raven
isn't immediately certain what she'd like to "catch," so they sit to
discuss her needs. It turns out, Raven is tired because she's been
picking up extra shifts, but Aisha, her beautiful coworker, has yet to
notice Raven's romantic interest.

"Easy!" says Kai, "I know how to help! I'll send a bouquet of flowers
to Aisha at work tomorrow, and then she'll know how you feel!"

Kai pictures many lovely Branches sprouting from his act — a smile on
Raven's face, a reduction in her shifts, a date — but it's also
possible that such a dramatic gesture would create an awkward
situation at work. The Ritual of the Branch asks us to consciously
explore paths of our own construction; instead of adhering to "do unto
others as you would have them do unto you," it asks us to try to "do
unto others as they would have done unto themselves."

For her part, Raven expresses that a bouquet of flowers, sent to her
love interest on her behalf, isn't exactly what she wants to catch.
Although personally, Kai would love for Raven to play his wingman in
a workplace romance, he realizes that Raven herself is far more shy,
and accepts that she wouldn't like it at all. The ritual may appear
stymied, but Kai is actually engaging more thoughtfully by considering
what Raven is comfortable receiving. In the end, the Branch that Kai
ends up casting is a homemade breakfast and a case of Raven's favorite
energy drink in the fridge. Now, she has extra time to relax before a
shift she's better prepared to take on.

The ritual of catching is relatively simple: Raven need only accept
her friend's gift, with no obligation in return, and be mindful of
enjoying the breakfast as she eats. "Casting" need not be expensive or
laborious, and "catching" should never leave someone in a position of
obligation. This ritual can be as simple as giving or accepting help,
and it's one of the best times to practice Love's prayer of gratitude.

Practice:

With the new moon rising, members spend some portion of the day
crafting a Branch (Ripple) to either be cast or caught, at some point
over the lunar cycle. Although the construction of these Branches is
an important part of the Ritual to be considered, the ultimate value
is derived from the Ripples themselves — novel information created in
life that becomes available in the beyond-life, regardless of
framework. To complete the Ritual, the intended Branch must only be
sent into or received from the universe. However, members are
encouraged to plan, execute, document, and follow up with their
actions, in order to better understand the new reality they've
co-created. It is assumed that in some cycles, the potential for
Branches long-sought may arise, without preparation, right before the
member's eyes. In these cases, the member is encouraged to simply take
"the leap," and, with the Ritual in mind, branch off in that new
direction.

The Ritual of the Branch is meant to co-create Ripples at regular
intervals, reinforcing a future more in line with the member's
preferences. It does not have to be profound, requires no specific
travel, special equipment, other members, amount of time, or level of
effort, only the intentional application of preference. For these
reasons, all members are expected to participate every lunar
cycle, and are encouraged to create a mixture of both casting and
catching. When casting, members are cognizant of potential
ramifications, while catching, consciously present, aware that the
member's experience of the received Ripple will be known to the
Ripple's creator in their beyond-life. The Ritual of the Branch
illustrates how creating pleasure for another is just as important as
enjoying the pleasure created by another.

The Ritual might include ideas such as the following:

Casting the Branch:

• Smiling at someone, usually unacknowledged (Love).

• Holding eye contact with a superior to show strength (Power).

• Declaring one's devotion to another (both).

• Sending money to the imprisoned (Love).

• Trying a new sport or game (neutral).

• Making a donation to fight for a cause (Power).

• Sending a social signal to some intimidating figure in one's life,
  such as a bullying boss (Power) or prospective partner (both).

• Applying for a dream job, or volunteering for a beloved cause once
  forgotten, yet recently recalled (both).

• Spending time with a shut-in (Love).

Catching the Branch:

• Getting a pedicure, massage, or new hairstyle (both).

• Accepting a gift or gesture of kindness (Love).

• Reading the biography of an inspirational figure, an unknown author,
  or exploring a new genre (neutral).

• Receiving plastic surgery to enhance one's social standing (Power).

• Attending a concert, expo, wine tasting, etc. (both).

• Experiencing a novel category of movie, documentary, or the like
  (neutral).

• Applying for needed assistance from an NGO (Power).

• Attending an artist's pop-up exhibition to show support,
  experiencing their work, and providing truthful feedback (Love).

• Taking an online course in a subject otherwise never considered
  (neutral).

Lunar Quorum (Monthly)

Description:

When the moon is full, each Body of Love & Power holds an internal
gathering to summarize the state of the Body's Pillars, and overall
concerns of the Body with at least one River Sage to facilitate and
preside over the gathering in-person. The moon's stage symbolizes a
full, faithful reflection of information (moonlight) between the Body
(sun), Pillars (moon), and membership (Earth). If practical, the
gathering begins outside, under the full moon, with a ritualized
reaffirmation of the Body's Pillars and place in the Novel Universe.
Otherwise, that reaffirmation will begin indoors. Due to their small
size and limited scope, Orphan Spheres and Clades do not participate
in Lunar Quorum on their own, but may be invited to any other Body's
Quorum with which the Sphere or Clade associates.

Every member is encouraged to participate in Lunar Quorum at least
once a season, but new members of a Body are required to attend their
first three. There is no upper limit to attendance for Quorum, except
the capacity of the gathering location itself. If there is a
logistical limit, priority is given to new members, River Sages, those
with an issue that is actively being voted upon, and members whose
attendance has waned.

The first order of business: the Body hears from the Presiding River
Sage, who relays the previous Quorum's theme, and summarizes all
resolved / unresolved business from the previous lunar cycle. Then,
the Sage announces the theme for the current Lunar Quorum (decided
upon during the previous gathering). Themes are meant to be
Pillar-based, but also to address the Body's peak concerns /
projects. For example, a Tribe whose Primary Organizing Pillar is the
sport of football may have a Lunar Quorum themed around exercise
regiments or constructing an effective pregame ritual. A Community
whose POP is housing the homeless might choose the theme of outreach
strategies, or techniques for assessing the needs of a vulnerable
population reluctant to share information. It's also possible that one
ongoing vote is so important to the members present that the entire
Quorum is spent discussing that voter issue.

Following the introductory presentation, members observe the ritual of
Circle Study, breaking off into Study groups, preferably using the
Novel Universe Cult's texts to explore the Quorum's theme. However, as
time is a factor, discussing each raised topic or question is not
necessary, and each group only completes a single cycle of the Circle.
Members are encouraged to make selections that spur insight, address
concerns, or celebrate progress in light of that Quorum's theme.

The next order of business: the Body reforms. If more than one River
Sage is present, a Sage other than the Presiding Sage gives a brief
summary of the current Quorum's theme. If there is only the Presiding
Sage, they may be the one to summarize, although the presence of at
least one other Sage is encouraged. The summary ends with the Ritual
of the Higher Order Conductor, or HOC (hōk). A "talking stick,"
representing the HOC, is passed over to the membership, whoever holds
it is expected to speak upon theme-related ideas concerning the Body's
improvements, struggles, triumphs, etc. The Higher Order Conductor's
role as the directing "mind" of an emergent "body" is symbolized by
holding the HOC while speaking. The HOC can be held by any member of
the Body, and the responsibility can freely be passed around. The
stick itself is also referred to as the HOC, and designed by the Body,
ideally in reference to its POP.

Besides Presiding Sages, a number of Citizens / Freemen are chosen
ahead of time to host Lunar Quorums as MCs (Masters of Ceremonies).
Members select the next Quorum's MCs and theme from a previously
published list of volunteers and the three most popular themes. The
position of MC is a privileged opportunity to create Ripples — experience the Lunar Quorum in the beyond-life from a POV only privy
to the event's co-creators.

The Ritual of the Observer is the process of selecting the MCs and
theme, symbolizing observation's critical role in Quantum Transience.
We limit the possible number of themes to three, representing the
three QT states — sticky, slippery, and neutral. The actual Ritual's
itinerary is entirely up to the individual Body, and ideally, should
be both fun and a reflection of the Body's character as a whole.
Examples of the selection process include (but are not limited to),
taking a simple voice vote, picking a random number, or playing a game
where the winner decides.

The final order of business: the gathering ends with Satellite
Sessions. While sharing a buffet of drinks and snacks to encourage
frank discussion, the Body breaks out into impromptu, unofficial
groups. Meanwhile, the Sage(s) present mingle with these member
clusters, gathering ideas, quotes, and feedback. Members have this
opportunity to offer what they thought was most important, and whether
they want their comments on-the-record or not. One week after Lunar
Quorum, the River posts a final written summary of the information
collected during the Satellite Sessions for each Body. Like a
city-council meeting, Lunar Quorum's primary purpose is to encourage
useful interactions among the membership, as a Body, that might not
otherwise occur in isolation. It's imperative that these useful
interactions be made available to everyone in the Cult Body, not just
those attendees.

Practices:

• Volunteering MCs, chosen during the previous Lunar Quorum, set up
  the venue the day of the gathering.

• Members assemble, preferably outside, under the visible full moon.
  As long as possible, the gathering takes place outdoors, but may
  move indoors at any point, should the Body so choose.

• The Presiding Sage leads the Body in an opening ritual of
  reaffirmation. This custom-made ritual, with a unique name and
  itinerary, reflects each Body's POP and overall characteristics.

• The Presiding Sage reviews the previous Quorum, and announces the
  theme for the current one.

• The Body breaks out into Circle Study groups.

• The Body reforms to hear presentations about the current theme.

• Members relay testimonials / contributions / concerns about the
  theme during the Ritual of the HOC.

• For the Ritual of the Observer, members select the MCs and theme for
  the next Lunar Quorum.

• The Body breaks out for the final ritual, Satellite Sessions.

• The Presiding Sage, and any additional River Sages present, collect
  data from the Sessions, while members depart at their leisure.

• Once the last member has left the Quorum, the Sage(s) and MCs clean
  up.

• On the seventh day following Lunar Quorum, the Body's newsletter is
  published with the top three themes for consideration and a list
  of volunteering Hosts to be selected for next time.

Imbalance (Any Time of Year)

Description:

Love & Power are, inherently, somewhat unbalanced in the Mixture that
is our living world. If things get too far out of balance, they risk
collapse, but if everything was in perfect balance, entropy would
freeze the universe in-place. Although a state of imbalance is
necessary for novelty to happen here, the degree to which this
imbalance occurs often creates suffering, and it is necessary to take
excursions outside the Cult to witness such extremes. Members on this
pilgrimage explore the "commonplace" ideas of various organizations
through the Novel Universe Model's lens.

Each member is encouraged to participate in Imbalance at least once in
their lifetime. With the guidance of their Sages, between 3 — 12
participating members of a Body journey together to a destination, and
learn about the ways in which Love & Power are or have been conflated,
and, are therefore, in a state of imbalance. It's encouraged for
members to suggest their own locations to attend, but Sages may also
make recommendations. Due to the dynamic nature of Imbalance, there's
no particular agenda for the pilgrimage. Instead, Sages orchestrate
the day's itinerary based on the membership's chosen site, while
facilitating discussions of concepts relevant to the site. For
example, they could volunteer for a day at an old folks' home,
masquerading as a "loving" facility while actually doing their best to
cut costs and turn a profit, or in other words, exert Power over their
clients. Although there are admittedly fewer examples of Love "coming
out on top" of the Imbalance, a Sage could also examine a capitalist
workplace (Power) that benefits from and incentivizes its staff's
sense of teamwork and togetherness (Love) through various areas for
recreation, socializing, team-building and the like, as well as,
open-planning architecture to encourage collaboration and the
"cross-pollination" of people, projects, and departments.

The point of Imbalance is not to criticize or venerate either Power or
Love, but to show how these wayward concepts, when conflated, are
contradictory and potentially harmful to a neo-segregated society.
Pilgrims experience how humanity's one-sided solutions often favor
Power's exercise of control, in things like "tough love" or the grift
of charities; but also how Love's use of Power, often employing the
excuse that the ends justify the means, mars the very meaning of Love.
When Love & Power are both suppressed, suffering follows, as
preferences become difficult to express — something the world outside
the Novel Universe Cult can better remind us of.

The Practice of Imbalance might include the group's attendance or
engagement with a:

• Religious organization's service or mass.

• Public hearing, such as a democratic forum or judicial proceeding.

• Museum, installation, or exhibit.

• Televised speech, lecture, or political address.

• Self-help course, support group, or academic symposium.

• Trade show, convention, or business.

• Advocacy group engaged in a protest for or against a particular
  issue.

Balance (Any Time of Year)

Description:

Each member is encouraged to participate in Balance at least once in
their lifetime, with no limit to the number of times they might
participate. Balance begins when members of Love (Water) and members
of Power (Rock) temporarily swap places with each other, akin to a
student-exchange program. Balance affords members the opportunity to
expand their understanding of the Novel Universe by directly
experiencing the side of the River opposite their own.

Let's say that three Citizens of Love, all from the
Ribbon-River Dancing Community, would like to
temporarily experience the lives of those in a Tribe. Luckily, three
members of the Monster Truck Tower Tribe are also interested
in undergoing this pilgrimage (if they were not all from the same
Tribe, the Sages would find three willing members of any number of
Tribes for this exchange). For a time, these members
switch roles and locations with each other, symbolizing
the Novel Universe Model's energy theory of
Signature-Frequency Sets swapping through Quantum Transience
in "bound" groups. At least one River Sage, and voluntary
guides within each Tribe and Community, will assist these members in
their transition, where they will "replace" their counterparts,
while absorbing the knowledge and novelty of a
new, temporary home. Practically speaking, however,
the Ribbon-River Dancers may never repair a truck, and the Monster
Truckers may not successfully master any dances, but ideally,
everyone should leave with new connections and expanded horizons.

In this scenario, Citizen Jeff, of the Ribbon-River
Dancing Community, is never fully able to make a
comfortable transition, and decides to quit Balance --
the only way to "fail" the pilgrimage. To be
reconsidered for Balance, Jeff must wait a minimum of two
years, and receive the endorsement of three River Sages.
Jeff must also have a Sage relay his decision with
Bella, the Monster Trucker he initially swapped with. Jeff
must take into consideration that failing his pilgrimage affects more
than his own journey, but Bella's as well — Bella
currently resides with Jeff's Family Sphere,
occupying Jeff's role in his Community. Bella is
presented with the following choices: she
might also quit Balance, be assigned a new
willing exchange partner to start over with at
day one, or be assigned a Ribbon-River Dancing
Sage as her exchange partner, given new accommodations
within the Community, and continue her
pilgrimage alone. Should she quit, however, she'll
not be required to undergo the waiting period and reapplication that
Jeff incurred, as she is not considered to have failed the
pilgrimage. With this in mind, there's no limit to the number
of times Jeff might retry Balance throughout
his lifetime, only that he meets those qualifications
with each attempt.

After the temporary switch runs its course, the
pilgrimage culminates in a shared meal and reflection on
the experience at a site between the Community and Tribe.
The nature of the one-to-one swap should hopefully afford
a deep connection between the swapped members of those
Tribes and Communities; or, in Bella and Jeff's case, a
stronger understanding of the self by dealing with Jeff's choice
to abandon the pilgrimage. Balance highlights the
flexibility of affiliation, that we can switch
frameworks at any time, any number of times,
whether in life or the beyond-life. Likewise, some
members might be invited to stay in their new home,
choosing never to switch back, or expand their sense of home,
and from time-to-time, live in either place. Our freedom
to change our minds, like the infinite nature of the
Instrument, never expires.

Practices:

• Exchangees spend between one and three tzolk'ins living in each
  other's homes, experiencing each other's group, coming to
  understand and appreciate a different way of doing things. A
  tzolk'in is the Mayan "short" calendar's thirteen day "week." We
  use the Mayan short calendar to enhance the pilgrimage by adding
  a "personal" dimension. Each of the 260 combinations between the
  day number and twenty glyphs has a unique set of associated ideas,
  that, like reading tarot cards or divining the I Ching, is
  dependent on individual interpretation. For instance, 7 Ik. Day 7
  is associated with completion or spiritual awareness, and "Ik"
  represents new beginnings, wind, and communication. A valid
  interpretation might be that 7 Ik is a perfect day to craft a new,
  spiritual beginning (friendship) through the Internet
  (communication), but it differs for everyone; an equally valid
  interpretation is that it's the day to start construction on a
  wind turbine. While use of the Mayan calendar is optional, we
  include it as a magical way to make every day of the pilgrimage
  count.

• Members apply to participate in Balance, are assigned a volunteer
  Clade or Sphere from the opposite side of the River to swap with,
  and travel to the Body with their Sage to negotiate living
  accommodations, a plan of development within the Body, and a
  baseline regimen of interaction. They will also be assigned a
  Guide, or member of the Body, responsible for directly assisting
  with the minutia of life in an unfamiliar culture. Both Guides and
  those members swapping Bodies are encouraged to reach out and
  begin the process of acclimation as soon as possible — so much
  can be accomplished in the days leading up to Balance. Ideally,
  before the pilgrimage kicks off, each member has a substantial
  idea of their duties and responsibilities, and, at minimum, met
  their Guide and family (Clade / Sphere) in-person. Guides may be
  changed at the request of the pilgrim, family, Guide, or Sage, as
  long as it is done in collaboration, with Sage-approval.

• During Balance, each member swaps with the other in a one-to-one
  fashion, spending their time engaged, to the best of their
  abilities, as if they were the member they have traded places
  with. However, this level of engagement is not intended to be
  total, including individual idiosyncrasies, but limited to
  functionally replacing their counterpart's itinerary of
  responsibilities to the Body.

• At the end of their time, the entire group from the pair of swapping
  Bodies meets up at the end of the last day for a special ceremony
  and meal. Members can invite their Guides to join, but are not
  obligated to do so. The meal takes place in a previously agreed
  upon River site.

• The ceremony starts with a special, two-cycle Circle Study,
  beginning with the Rock Body followed by the Water, where
  participants highlight the relationship between NUM and what
  they've learned about the other's Body.

• The entire group participates together in one to three rituals or
  practices particular to each participating Body's form of Love or
  Power.

• A formal statement of gratitude / value for both Bodies is
  presented in appreciation for each sharing with the other their
  time and inviting the pilgrims into their space. If Guides are in
  attendance, they may be asked to speak as well.

• A communal potluck dinner, with appropriate, beloved menu items from
  both Bodies, is held.

• After the meal, members exchange handwritten letters, homemade
  crafts, or other cherished items as keepsakes for those whose
  homes they shared.

• Officially ending the pilgrimage, each pilgrim announces their
  future intended association with both Bodies.

Origin (springtime)

Description:

As a leap-year festival, Origin expresses the Novel Universe's
lifecycle of incarnation. With the help of the Hosts — honored
members chosen by the Cult — the River establishes temporary Villages
populated with Families, wherever NUC exists across the planet, for a
days-long festival centered around a broadly relevant motif. For
example, should the relationship between management and labor be at
the forefront of world politics, Origin's motif might delve into
valuable parts of the Novel Universe Cult's unique organizational
structure. In this case, Love's interpretation of the motif might be
the application of NUC's neural-democratic principles to foster
communication between the two sides, whereas Power's, negotiation
strategies and tactics corporations (Towers) and unions (Squares)
might benefit from.

A Family is a combination of Wanderers, Freemen, and Civilians,
belonging to a Village, and presided over by a River Sage, known
throughout the festival as the Family Sage. Hosts are members elected
by the Cult to operate the Village, and assist its Sages. Any member
anywhere may sign up to attend Origin in any Village they wish, and
Sages provide members a list of Families in their chosen Village. Each
Village adopts a general aspect of the motif, and each Family is
assigned a theme related to that aspect, either a subject of the Novel
Universe Model that applies or a common Pillar that speaks to the
motif. The mission of each Family's specific theme is to dig into
their Village's aspect of the motif, thus creating valuable approaches
by addressing that contemporary issue. Having a festival that both
celebrates our connections with each other, but also venerates
Origin's overall function to create novelty for the Cult and the
world-at-large, best reflects the foundational purpose of NUC, and
origin of our exclamation, "NUC Earth!"

In our example, the motif of the labor / management struggle could
have a Village aspect of "conflict strategies," while a Family might
have the theme of applying neural-democracy's input bias to various
voices in negotiation, digging into strategies for particular
participants to be amplified or silenced from round to round. Who sits
at the head of the table sets the agenda, while highlighting those
with valuable input speeds things along. Another Family theme is the
strengths and weaknesses of informal versus formal hierarchies — whether negotiators are given authority to set terms. Removing this
authority may delay, deny, or even dismantle negotiations — admittedly, a true Power move, this is a passive-aggressive tactic
used by dominant actors to frustrate their weaker opponents into
surrendering foundational positions, while maintaining that valuable
illusion of a "good-faith" actor. Themes might also highlight Pillars
such as: a Community who studies the persuasive effect of graphic
design; a Tribe with creative tactics for disrupting counter-protests.
Or, simply, they could address the pros and cons of the River Sages'
role in mediation between Water and Rock Bodies — something labor and
management only see when government actors step in.

Members evaluate Families and their themes, eventually selecting five
Families they might join with themes that align with their interests.
The challenges and benefits of our mortal families are the apparent
randomness of affiliation — some fit in, while others wonder if they
weren't adopted by aliens. Whatever part we play in selecting our
families before birth, Origin attempts to simulate that uncanny
attachment of blood, both familiar and foreign. Therefore, after
making the selections of which Families one wishes to join, the final
placement is made by the Family Sages, adding that bit of randomness
to enhance the potential for novelty.

It is through our mortal bodies we either gain the tools of the
Concert Hall or commodities for the Marketplace. To honor this, each
Family constructs a three-sided dwelling with a roof called a Biye
(Mongolian for "body") with the help of the Family Sage and
Village Hosts. Akin to the structure of a Jewish sukkah, Biyes
are designed and decorated with elements of both Love & Power as a
reflection of the Family's theme and members involved. Housing the
Family's theme-related creations, Biyes symbolize how we all enter the
Novel Universe with a unique history, influenced by both Love & Power,
in a temporary form built of their mixture. They also represent the
fleeting, physical order of incarnation, and the seemingly chaotic
nature of one's place in a human family — we're all forced to
interact with people we might otherwise choose to avoid.

The Festival is separated into three periods — construction (days one
through three), observance (days four through six), and consumption
(day seven). In general, the first day is spent getting to know each
other, and planning the Family's Biye, while the next day, the Biye's
designed and construction begins. By the end of day three, the Biye
should be built and decorated. Over the following three days, Village
Families finish detailing their Biyes, while visiting other Biyes,
music venues, art shows, etc. put on by the participating Rock and
Water Bodies. The final day concludes the Festival in a feast and
communal celebration, reflecting the Village's novel interpretation of
the motif.

Members of opposing frameworks will tend to form new relationships as
they co-create their Biye. Facilitating these valuable connections
constitutes the primary mission of the Family Sages, while
secondarily, guiding the evolution of the Family's theme to keep it in
line with the Village's aspect of the motif. Lastly, the Sages
collect, for eventual publication, any innovative ideas Biyes create.
Throughout the Festival, while members mingle, festival-goers write
comments directly on each other's Biyes, like graffiti. These comments
are primarily meant for members to interact with the Family's theme,
but can be about any appropriate thing. Each comment symbolizes a
Block of the Blockchain, the information accumulated by
Signature-Frequency Sets throughout their time on Earth. Sages are
encouraged to document these "Blocks," and publish the more valuable
ones, alongside those novel innovations created by the Village.

The Festival ends with the deconstruction of the Biyes into a bonfire,
and an extravagant meal provided by the Family Sages, called, "The
Feast of the River." The bonfire represents the supremacy of silence,
the seemingly permanent loss of Earthly information in death. On the
other hand, the Feast represents the tools of Love and the commodities
of Power gained over one's lifetime that returns with them to their
Spiral, and possibly onto the Concert Hall or Marketplace. To
symbolize this transfer of information from an Earthly existence to the
beyond-life, the heat from the bonfire is captured and used to cook
the meal.

Practices:

• Following Origin, a Cult-wide report is published by the end of
  summer, documenting highlights from the recent Festival. At the
  center of this report are the innovative ideas Families had
  created, addressing the motif. These ideas are primarily meant for
  NUC, but might be additionally published in secular outlets, if
  deemed warranted.

• Over that summer and fall, Cult members submit ideas for the coming
  Festival's motif. By the end of the leap year, a new motif is
  selected by the Cult, and preferably, any member from the recent
  Festival who wishes to volunteer to be a Host for the upcoming
  Festival will have submitted their name for consideration. Motifs
  are not intended to be hot-button, trendy issues that may become
  irrelevant over the coming months, but instead, core, human values
  that persist for centuries on end, like the struggle between Power
  structures in society.

• In year one, following the previous Origin Festival, Rock and Water
  Bodies who wish to jointly sponsor a Village submit their
  application to the River. The application must include a list of
  possible Family themes and possible Village venues. The River
  evaluates these candidates for viability, confirms the list of
  potential Village sites, and by the end of year one, has a list
  ready to submit to the Cult for consideration.

• In year two, members begin the year by voting on the sites, with the
  vote closing no later than the end of spring. Immediately
  following the vote, the Village sites for the coming Festival are
  announced, and by the end of the year, the River releases a list
  of each Village's Families and their individual themes.

• In year three, members submit their requests to join a particular
  Village, select their five Families, and the list of Hosts is
  announced. Previous Origin Hosts are called on to train the new
  Hosts, with training nearing completion by the year's end. The
  training Hosts are overseen by a group comprised of the coming
  Origin's Family Sages. These Sages serve as is practical, and are
  substituted as scheduling requires.

• Over the spring, the Villages are planned and, by year's end,
  constructed. Any Host from any Origin who wishes to take part in
  the construction is welcome to do so by joining a group led by one
  of the Village's Family Sages.

• In year four, a new leap year, the River announces the list of
  attendees and Families they belong to on New Year's Day. From that
  day until the day prior to leap day, members can apply to the
  Sages for a change in Family / Village, and Hosts may be added or
  subtracted from the list as it is practical.

• On leap day, the roster for Families and Hosts is set. Previous
  Origin Hosts finish the new Host's training. Should the list of
  Hosts, a Village, or the Festival itself have more applicants than
  available spots, the Sages, neural-democratically, select the
  Hosts / attendees. In the case of having enough spots for the
  Festival as a whole, but certain Villages running out of space,
  the Sages do their best to fill the open spots while
  simultaneously accommodating the membership's interests. For
  instance, if one member has been to the Festival before and
  another has not, the one who has never gone is prioritized by the
  Sages. This same rule applies to Hosts.

• Conditions permitting, sometime in spring, Hosts and Family Sages
  arrive at the venue as it is practical to set up and run Origin.
  At the center of the Festival venue, a large, semi-permanent
  Festival Hall is built as a central hub. While Sages and Hosts
  are primarily housed off-site for the duration of the Festival,
  the Village houses the attendees in special Mongolian yurts,
  called gers. The Mongolian culture is known for its nomadic
  lifestyle, a wonderful reflection of the Villages' temporary
  nature. Although strict adherence to their traditional design is
  not necessary, gers are chosen for their significant role in
  Mongolian life, as they represent hospitality, family unity, and
  harmony with nature. To manage the Festival overnight,
  volunteering Family Sages and Hosts remain in the Festival Hall's
  private rooms, each staying no more than two consecutive nights — ensuring they have reasonable breaks from their duties. Each
  Family (between 9 — 15 members) consists of 3 gers, housing 3 — 5
  members in each. With its opening facing the Festival Hall, the
  Biye's built at the center of the triangle formed by the 3 gers.

• Invited members travel to their Villages for the Festival, arriving,
  at minimum, the day prior.

• The three days prior to the Festival, the Hosts' information and
  orientation booths guide attendees as they settle in. At the end
  of the third day, an assembly is held by the Family Sages and
  Hosts with presentations, performances, and the like in order to
  unify the Village in its mission to express its unique aspect of
  the motif. The categories for awards / prizes are announced for
  the attendees' consideration.

• On day one, attendees get to know their Families, while they create
  plans for their three-sided Biyes and strategies for the
  expression of their theme. Day two, the Biyes are designed; day
  three, constructed and decorated. Over days four through six,
  attendees visit other Families, engage with each theme, write
  messages on the Biyes, and attend concerts, exhibits, etc. They
  also submit votes for Families who might win the awards / prizes.

• On day seven, the Biyes are dismantled, the bonfire lit, and the
  Feast of the River is held. The awards / prizes are given out to
  the winning Families following a final presentation by the Family
  Sages. Special gifts created by the Families are presented to each
  Host. The Festival ends with a musical concert.

• The following days (as needed), Family Sages and Hosts direct the
  cleanup of the Village with full membership participation (as
  practical), the efficient departure of attendees, and return of
  the venue to its original state, if not improved. Sustainability
  and responsibility are core values of the Novel Universe Cult.

Last Rites

We create Ripples that branch in ways unseen, some persisting long
after we're gone. We may never be aware of them in life, and
therefore, have no ability to alter their trajectory, that is, with
one exception. To whatever degree possible, intentionally shaping the
Ripple created by our death is worth consideration, no matter our
framework. With proper planning and support, we can craft a Ripple
beneficial to both those we value and love in life, but also,
ourselves in the beyond-life. This is our final opportunity to express
Power, Love, or both.

For Love, a funeral can provide survivors a time and place to mourn
the loss. Love promotes participation through conscious, intentional
vulnerability, helping those affected eventually move forward. By
processing grief in the company of others, the void left by the
departed might be mended through community, softening the wound's
edges. As for the deceased in the Concert Hall, they will come to know
the grief suffered by the living, a loss that clarifies the depth of
connection they'd shared in life. Loss and reunion are simply not
possible in the Hall, and there's no other way to experience these
stark points of view except in life, which, for many, is what makes
the Novel Universe so meaningful.

For Power, funerals are a moment to raise the dead in glory, to make
known their great value, to illuminate the cost of their absence — "nothing will be the same without them," and as long as it's all about
them, they'll know all about it in their Spiral. Power's funeral
creates profit for both the living and dead — like sacrifices to the
"gods" of old, valuable Ripples (novelty) are forged and enjoyed by
the living throughout the funeral service, while consumed by the
deceased in their Spiral. For example, should the deceased have been
known to drink to excess, instead of pouring their favorite liquor
onto their grave or leaving behind the offering of a special bottle,
gift the deceased one last historic binge from the funeral goers' POV.
Acquire plenty of their favorite libations, and with the deceased's
close-knit friends and family, get drunk and reminisce, retelling the
great and glorious stories of the deceased until everyone passes out,
just as the deceased had so often done in life.

From either framework, the dead experience every moment of
remembrance, knowing the tears shed, jokes told, stories exaggerated — after all, they're the source of the memories, the rock that forms
the Ripples. Although the dead aren't actually present at these
services or in those reminiscences, in the Hall or Spiral, they might
receive the fullness of their funeral Ripples, ideally having been
crafted as much for the living as the dead.

Cult Bodies that prescribe specific death rites or ceremonies may
only recommend them, as members may decide to deviate from or
disregard them altogether — after all, it's their body, and it will
be respected to the end. Before we are Freemen, Citizens, or Civilians
of the Novel Universe Cult, we are all Wanderers — Spirals,
universes unto ourselves. Therefore, when the living attempt to
countermand the dead, the River intervenes to fulfill the dead
member's wishes to the best of the Sages' abilities, with or without
the participation of the Body(s) to which the member belonged.

Beyond what we directly leave to the world — our work, family,
thoughts, ideas, etc. — the moment of our death sets in motion our
last, co-created Ripple. For Citizens, this is a final opportunity to
share Love; for Freemen, Power; and for Wanderers, the wisdom of their
unique perspective. Do we have a funeral, are we cremated, buried,
embalmed? The Novel Universe Cult leaves the entire process up to the
individual, albeit, with the following suggestions for Love & Power.
The Novel Universe Model sees neither a "correct" way to dispose of
one's body after death, nor process of mourning / celebration.
However, no matter what is chosen, Ripples will be created, and it is
those Ripples that must be considered in light of the individual's
personal and societal relationships.

Rock-Specific Practices:

• Rock Bodies may create for themselves any Sage-approved death ritual
  / ceremony they wish, as long as it's permissible under State law.

• Upon the passing of a Freeman, if permissible by the Body, a Sage is
  assigned as the Death Sage to oversee the event.

• Members are encouraged to highlight the value or Power of the
  deceased's contributions to the Body as part of any ceremony.

• Recreating the deceased's favorite activities are a valuable way to
  provide them further preferential Ripples in their Spiral.

• If no other rituals or ceremonies are proposed, it's recommended
  that Freemen engage in "The Silencing," a ritual that reflects the
  solitude of the deceased entering their Spiral upon death. The
  "Silenced" — individuals (family /friends) significantly affected
  by the death — set out on a silent trek (mountain / desert /
  jungle / etc.), accompanied by a Sage, preferably the Death Sage.
  People not immediately influenced by the death may also join the
  journey, though they are expected to keep a respectful distance.
  The Silenced may discuss their grief with the Sage as much as they
  feel necessary, and lingering followers may engage in their own,
  separate discussions, but a key aspect of this journey is engaging
  a long period of silence.

Water-Specific Practices:

• Water Bodies who wish to deviate from the prescribed ceremony may
  create for themselves a Sage-approved ritual or ceremony, as long
  as it's permissible under State law.

• Upon the passing of a Citizen, if permissible by the Body, a Sage
  will be assigned as the Usher Sage to oversee the event.

• As soon as is practical, a funeral or other ritual is set to take
  place in the Mourning Sphere. Should the deceased Citizen belong
  to multiple Spheres, the Family Sphere is given priority,
  otherwise members of the Community's Spheres work with the Usher
  Sage to select a Sphere to host the ritual.

• Official Mourners are assigned by the Usher Sage. These intimate
  friends and family of the deceased are excused from their duties
  and responsibilities to their Spheres and Communities for the
  event's duration; however, with Sage-approval, individual
  extensions of mourning may be made, lasting no more than eleven
  months.

• Within the Mourning Sphere, a "Home" is chosen to host the Mourners,
  preferably the residence of the deceased, and remains open to all
  Citizens of the Community throughout the process.

• The Home is sectioned into a public area for visitors and Mourners
  to interact, and a private area for the Mourners' solitude, where
  they might rest and sleep.

• From the day of the member's passing until the funeral, Citizens of
  the Mourning Sphere host the Mourners at Home. Food and drink is
  provided by the Mourning Sphere throughout the period, while any
  visiting Citizens / Civilians wishing to contribute food, drink,
  or any other items may do so through the Usher Sage.

• Extended family, Citizens of the Community, Civilians from other
  Communities / Orphan Spheres, and other Mourning Sphere members
  are encouraged to sit with the Mourners, who may remain in
  silence, or, if they so choose to speak, will lead any discussion,
  engaging any topic they wish. Visiting members are encouraged to
  listen and grieve with the Mourners, resisting any urge to co-opt
  the discussion, instead, focusing on their support of the
  Mourners. This time frame reflects the solitude of the deceased
  entering their Spiral upon death, as we all will do, regardless of
  our destination (Marketplace / Concert Hall). Additionally for the
  Mourners, it is an opportunity to reflect upon the deceased's
  life, but also, to totally submit to their grief and fully
  experience their loss, enveloped by the Love of their Community.

• The funeral takes place in a "Concert Hall," a beautifully decorated
  venue, celebrating the deceased's life, ideally with their
  favorite music playing.

• The itinerary of the event is created / directed by the Usher Sage
  with input from the Mourners.

• During the event, the Usher Sage is encouraged to highlight the
  deceased's contributions to the Sphere(s) / Community(s) to which
  the deceased belonged.

• For one tzolk'in (13 days) following the funeral, Mourners are
  encouraged to remain at Home. Similar to the period before the
  funeral, visitors come and go; however, during this period, the
  visitors lead the discussions, and any Mourner who wishes to help
  with the activities of daily living, such as housework, cooking,
  gardening, etc. is encouraged (not required) to do so. Ideally,
  the activities the Mourners participate in should reflect those
  shared between the deceased and Mourners — a direct avenue to
  engage the memories of the deceased, while initiating the process
  of healing in the company of the living. Through sharing in these
  activities, this period of time is designed to pull the Mourners
  from the darkness of their despair and grief into the light of the
  Community. By returning to daily life, the Mourners will ideally
  no longer be paralyzed by the loss.

• Upon the day following the end of the tzolk'in, a party is held at
  Home to close out the grieving process. For those Mourners whose
  grief is still too raw, they may be excused from the event. This
  party is designed to both celebrate the deceased's joyful entry
  into the Concert Hall, but also the Mourners' joy once they, too,
  reunite with the deceased in the Hall.

• The Usher Sage will work with those Mourners especially grieved by
  the loss to continue the process of healing, and assign a
  longer-term Healing Sage(s) to work with those who are struggling
  to overcome their grief.

• Following the funerary period, the appropriate, personal items and
  dwelling(s) of the deceased will be redistributed by the end of
  the following month. Mourners will be given priority to decide
  where the deceased's belongings should go, but ultimately, will be
  subject to the Usher Sage's approval. For disputed items, the
  Body(s) the deceased belonged to will determine the distribution
  neural-democratically. Exceptions to the distribution's time-frame
  may be made with Sage-approval, but will not exceed eleven months.
  By the start of the year following the passing, the Community(s)
  will have moved on, retaining those sites of mourning, yet
  limiting those triggers of memory to those sites, and not the
  objects themselves. In this way, those deeply affected by the loss
  will be given time to process their grief, but will not keep the
  deceased's useful belongings needlessly unoccupied.

Water Ceremonies and Celebrations:

Return (early fall)

Description:

Return honors the process of Complete Information with a daylong
ceremony, held within each Community's Lower-Ordered Body Spheres,
ideally in groups of between 8 — 20 participants. For a Community with
Spheres either larger or smaller than this range, temporary Spheres
may be created for the event. As a Community-based ceremony, those
members of Orphan Spheres may be invited by any Community to join
them, otherwise, the Spheres may attempt the ceremony on their own,
with or without the presence of a Sage.

Return begins with reflection. Members dig through old memories, photo
albums, social media sites, storage boxes, and the like. This both
symbolizes the Concert Hall's return of Earthly information, but
ideally spurs the members to consider the events of the previous year,
and who they might wish to reveal some previously unknown information
to.

Members of a Community who wish to participate gather to hear a
summation of the previous year's Lunar Quorums. Next, music plays, and
members form a circle. In turn, each member jumps into the circle,
performs a short dance movement, jumps out, and the entire circle
parrots the move. This heart-pounding moment is designed to both
create vulnerability, while also loosen members up. The circle cycles,
and once complete, the music ends. Each member again enters the
circle, and stands at its center. Symbolizing the Novel Universe
Model's function of Quantum Transience, each member relays a positive,
negative, and / or neutral short story from the year. These stories
are meant to be humorous, touching, uplifting, or otherwise inspiring.

The circle breaks apart, and a picnic is held. While games, contests,
and other lighthearted activities follow, the ceremony takes a serious
turn as members cluster together, and are encouraged to reveal
something unknown to each other. There is no limit to how many of
these "secrets" are revealed, only that in order to fully complete the
ceremony, at minimum, one should be heavy or difficult, while another,
light or inspiring. Specially trained Sages are on-hand to assist with
the more intense interactions. These revelations represent Return's
core, signifying our Ripples returning to us in the Hall with both
harsh and wonderful information unavailable to us on Earth. Along with
the Sages, the food and entertainment function to counter the
potentially stressful process of releasing and accepting novel
information.

Once a member is satiated, played out, and has communicated what they
have intended to, they gather a pen, paper, and secret container(s).
Returning to the circle, they await the rest of their Sphere. As
members slowly rejoin the circle, each sits, writes more secrets they
may wish to privately reveal to another, seal each container, then
wait in silence for the remaining discussions to finish. Once the last
member has returned and sealed their last container, they call the
Sphere to stand, eyes closed in silent prayer. When all prayers are
completed and eyes reopened, one-by-one, Citizens reenter the circle,
comment on things they are willing to share about what they've
experienced throughout the day, and finish with a single-subject
prayer, such as, "Thank you, for my father who, today, recognized and
apologized for a traumatic childhood event," or "Thank you, Love, for
my mom who revealed those early doubts and vulnerabilities as a
mother, and made me feel more confident with my own children," or
something more mundane, like "Thank you, for my sister who reminded me
why straightening up after a shower is important to the whole family!"

Lastly, the exchange of written secrets. As the Sphere breaks up,
those containers are given to their intended recipients, whether that
be the subject of the secret or simply a trusted member they wish to
confide in. For those secrets still too sensitive to yet be revealed,
the container is either buried or burned, depending on whether the
member feels they may one day be ready to reveal it (buried), or may
never reveal it (burned). Should the burials be outdoors, those spots
are ideally documented by the member / Sage(s), in order that they
might one day be dug up; otherwise, the use of safes or lock boxes is
encouraged.

Practices:

• During the morning of Return, members forgo breakfast, and instead,
  prepare for the day by digging into their memories, both
  reminiscences and physical reminders.

• Before the sun's zenith (near noon), the members of each Sphere
  within the Community join together, each Sphere in their own
  previously designated spot where each completes the ceremony on
  its own with its own, custom picnic and activities. At minimum,
  one Sage (preferably from the Sphere) is present in each Sphere
  throughout the ceremony, with the size and number of Spheres being
  adjusted as necessary to accommodate the total number of Sages in
  any Community.

• Once the food is set, the Sphere hears from its most senior Sage,
  who sets out the day's itinerary and other relevant information
  the Sphere might need to know for the day's activities. A special,
  Community newsletter, summarizing the previous year's Lunar
  Quorums, is then read aloud by the oldest, capable member of the
  group.

• Music begins to play, cueing the members to join in a circle at a
  designated spot. With the youngest member of the Community going
  first, each takes a turn, jumping into the circle to perform a
  dance-move everyone will parrot. The order circles
  counter-clockwise, in other words, the youngster dances, and the
  one to their right goes next.

• The music ends, and again, each takes their turn stepping into the
  circle, only this time, at its center, and relays one positive,
  negative, and / or neutral event from their life that occurred
  over the last year. The most recently confirmed Sage goes first,
  and the order circles clockwise, to the Sage's left side.

• The circle breaks up, and the picnic is enjoyed. Games are played
  while semi-public "group therapy," or communal exchange of hard
  truths, takes place in impromptu pairs or clusters — each member
  relays some unknown information to another member.

• One-by-one, members who've finished their revelations gather pen,
  paper, and any number of containers, return to the circle, sit on
  the ground with shoes off in front of them (as is practical), and
  begin writing their secrets. The ritualized removal of one's shoes
  is intended to symbolize the absence of barriers in the Concert
  Hall. Members seal each message, setting it in front of their
  shoes in the circle. With the last one sealed, they sit in
  silence, signaling to the group that they are done, and wait in
  meditation for the rest of the group to complete their writings.
  Those members who did not participate in the open sharing of
  secrets, but do wish to participate in the written sharing and /
  or the rest of the ceremony, are encouraged to enter the circle
  sooner rather than later.

• The last member to finish calls the group to stand, eyes closed, in
  silent prayer.

• After all eyes have reopened, members again enter the circle to
  share special experiences of Return, and give a single-subject
  prayer. The first to go will be the oldest Sage in the Community,
  with the order circling counter-clockwise.

• With shoes back on, the group breaks up, and works together to clean
  up the picnic and games. During this time, they privately
  exchange those written secrets in their sealed containers, or burn
  / bury the sealed secrets if there is no trusted other to share
  them with. The seals on these containers may not be broken until
  the morning after Dancing Day.

• Return ends with the cleanup completed.

• Ideally, members forgo dinner in preparation for the following day's
  festivities — Dancing Day.

Dancing Day (the day after Return)

Description:

Venerating the function of the Concert Hall, this celebration kicks
off with a communal breakfast under the late sunrise of fall. Members
specially selected over the year for their contributions to the
Community, or "Designers," help Sages prepare the breakfast. Like
Return, Dancing Day is a Community-based celebration, and those
members of Orphan Spheres may be invited by any Community to join them — otherwise, they may celebrate on their own, with or without a Sage
present. Unlike Return, which takes place at the Sphere level, Dancing
Day is celebrated at the full Community level.

Commemorating the distinction between the "Audience" who enjoy the
Concert Hall's entertainments, and those who enter the Novel Universe
to gain the experience necessary to "design" these games and stories,
"Designers" don special uniforms and perform special roles throughout
the celebration.

Dancing Day is filled with food, conversation, and creating handmade
gifts to symbolize the unique nature of the Hall: Signature-Frequency
Sets in constant connection and co-creation. Sages and more
experienced members of the Community are encouraged to spend time at
the Community Center, preparing snacks and assisting junior members as
they decide on who to contact, and what special items to create.
Citizens virtually and / or physically connect with Citizens of other
Bodies, either one-on-one or in group chats. Dancing Day is about
engaging with as many loved ones as possible and creating a communal
culture. With that in mind, during this special period of the
celebration, it's encouraged to prioritize one's virtual connections,
and reach out to distant friends or family to reestablish contact.

To initiate the Grand Ceremony of Dancing Day, members exchange their
gifts, like Sets swapping information, and join together in dance.
This dance symbolizes the interchange of Complete Information — individuals interacting together, both individually and as a whole.
Everyone is encouraged to participate in the music and dance, except
for the handful of pre-ordained Designers who manage the feast. The
food's preparation symbolizes the trials and joys of life, necessary
to design the complex characters of the Concert Hall's stories and
games, while the serving of the meal symbolizes the entertainments
themselves.

During the feast, everyone is invited to stand and publicly retell
highlights of their day. After the meal, Designers are honored with
stories supporting their nomination. The event concludes with a grand
finale — a movie, show, light display, or some shared experience
reflecting the Community's Primary Organizing Pillar — meant to focus
the membership in a single moment of unity.

Practices:

• Like so many aspects of Dancing Day, the nature and assignment of
  the Designers' costumes (even uniforms) are flexible — completely
  up to individual Communities, in order to better express their
  unique qualities as a collection of Spheres. For example, the
  costumes may be created for that specific year, or reused
  year-after-year. They may be assigned to all Designers, or a
  unique costume created for each. At a minimum, the previous year's
  Designers ideally choose the breakfast uniforms gifted to the
  current Designers, but that does not have to be the case. The
  Community, Designers, or some random process may select either the
  style of the uniforms and / or costumes. Either or both may be
  whimsical, serious, or even scary — El Día de los Muertos
  or Halloween costumes, for instance. They may even touch on
  historical or occupational subjects, but no matter the theme, all
  costumes and uniforms are encouraged to reflect the relationship
  between the wider world and Community. This could focus on recent
  Community achievements or challenges, their POP, or at the very
  least, the individual Designers themselves. The only requirement
  is that the Designers receive some outfit as a physical keepsake
  of their time as a Designer, and don some thoughtful attire to
  distinguish themselves during the two meals.

• Throughout the preceding year, members submit nominations for fellow
  members to become Designers for the upcoming Dancing Day. Sages
  are not nominated as Designers — they fill their own special role
  for the Day. The Body also accepts ideas from the membership for
  the Designers' special outfits and costumes, which are sent to the
  previous year's Designers for evaluation and ultimate approval.

• Designers are selected, not elected — the membership makes
  nominations, but, as NUC experts, the Community's Sages have the
  final say in all Designers. Priority is given to those Citizens
  who've participated as a Designer the fewest number of times in
  the past. Mostly, willing participants with the most passionate
  nominations fill the open slots first; for any remaining open
  slots, Sages may then prepare nominations for members they
  personally believe in.

• By the end of spring, a list of outfits and costumes for the
  Designers is presented to the Community, each member invited to
  register their opinion on each option. The list may include ideas
  submitted by the Community, past years' Designers, or both.
  However, the list itself is created and finalized solely by the
  previous year's Designers. An explicit honor of being a Designer
  is the opportunity to participate in the selection of the
  following year's attire. This act symbolizes the idea that, in the
  Concert Hall, we all influence each other's decision to depart the
  Hall, and spend a lifetime in the Novel Universe.

• By the start of the Lunar Quorum preceding Dancing Day, Designers
  from the previous year ideally have finalized their decisions in
  collaboration. If they cannot come to a consensus by Quorum, QT
  Preference or Approval Voting is used by the group to select the
  outfits.

• During the Lunar Quorum preceding Dancing Day, the new Designers and
  their outfits are announced. Also, those who nominated the members
  are privately alerted that they have been chosen to relay a story
  or some reasoning for the Designer's nomination. Members must opt
  out of these roles within two days, so replacements can be found
  and names published in the Quorum's upcoming newsletter.

• During the days between Quorum and Return, Designers and Sages begin
  preparations, planning and setting up for Dancing Day's
  extravagant breakfast, dinner, and grand finale, erecting
  decorations and the like. Generally, the locations of these events
  are cordoned off from public view for the purposes of creating
  spectacles that are both wondrous and novel. With assistance from
  the River, Communities are free to employ outside help with the
  venues.

• Long before sunrise on Dancing Day, the Sages and Designers arrive
  at the Community Center to co-create a breakfast for the entire
  Community, finish setting up the venue for the citizenry's
  arrival, and make any time-sensitive preparations for the
  end-of-day feast, symbolizing the Concert Hall's Complete
  Information returning to each Signature-Frequency Set as they
  enter the Hall, called the "Feast of Knowing."

• Throughout the creation of the meal, clusters of Sages and Designers
  take turns eating breakfast together. Once they've all eaten, the
  venue is ready, the Feast's prep is done, and breakfast is set,
  the Designers dress in their special attire.

• Ideally, the morning outfits the Designers don are uniforms,
  custom-fit for each Designer during the lunar cycle preceding
  Dancing Day, designed as unique and functional keepsakes for that
  year's Designers. Not too ornate or elaborate, the outfits should
  be flexible and professional, like an occupational uniform, in
  contrast to the nighttime outfits, that should be much more
  extravagant. In other words, one should be able to use the day
  uniform in daily life, or equally, most special occasions — whenever, in the future, the member wishes to relive the magic of
  being a Dancing Day Designer.

• With the rising sun, the Community gathers at their Community
  Center, and is greeted by the Designers and Sages for breakfast.
  Designers and Sages make a spectacle of welcoming the citizenry to
  the venue, incorporating such things as singing, dancing, and
  other forms of showmanship. This vital moment symbolizes a
  glorious entry into the Concert Hall — each SFS astounded by the
  beauty and warmth of reunion with those both known on Earth, but
  also, only in death.

• While the Designers manage breakfast, the Community Sages give
  speeches noting the future goals and priorities of the Community's
  Pillars. Once the speeches are done and the last member has left
  the Center after breakfast, the Designers clean up, while the
  Sages set up and maintain a buffet of snacks for the Community to
  enjoy onsite.

• The Sage's snacks replace any formal lunch, allowing the membership
  flexibility in scheduling social connections and creating their
  gifts. Additionally, having a single gathering point for the
  membership provides a hub for endless collaboration, spurring
  insight into the Day's activities, especially for young or new
  Citizens.

• From the end of breakfast into the late afternoon, members create
  handmade treats / gifts, and virtually / physically contact other
  Cult members to reminisce over the events of the past. If they
  wish to do so, Designers may change out of their uniforms into
  more comfortable attire, while they join the membership in these
  reminiscences.

• Note: should there be further time-sensitive preparations required
  for the Feast of Knowing, they are handled at this point. The
  actual assembly of the Feast happens during the dancing portion of
  the Day, and ideally should take between one and two hours. The
  Feast's preparation and the dancing happen simultaneously to
  symbolize the nature of the Concert Hall — novelty is co-created
  by both the interaction (dancing) of the Hall's inhabitants, and
  the stories and games (food) experienced in the beyond-life. Most
  salient is the fact that this meal is provided to the Audience
  (membership) by the Designers (chosen members).

• At some point in the late afternoon, when practical, the Designers
  announce the preparation of the Feast of Knowing, and members
  return at their leisure to the Community Center. While the
  Designers prepare the Feast, Citizens dance together, while
  further encouraged to stand onstage between songs, updating the
  Community with publicly relevant news from the day's contacts with
  other members.

• Once the Feast is ready, Designers change into their elaborate
  nighttime costumes, and call the Body to gather. How the Body is
  ritually called to the Feast should express the Community's POP
  and its membership. Communities are encouraged to periodically
  reshape this ritual to best reflect the membership's current
  culture.

• Decked out, the Designers serve the food for the Feast of Knowing to
  their Community. Unlike breakfast, the Designers are the sole
  servers, with Sages joining the Community at the table. This
  symbolizes the singular importance of the Designers' role in a
  core aspect of the Hall's culture: communal, playful activities
  led by those veterans of a Novel Universe.

• Meanwhile, the Audience's attention is focused onstage in a variety
  of ways: members may continue to voluntarily stand onstage,
  relaying highlights from the day or other publicly appropriate
  information they wish to share; formal speeches and / or
  performances may be held in-place of / in addition to member
  participation, including, but not limited to, stand-up comedy,
  interviews, Q&As, skits, lectures, or, in the worst case scenario,
  movies or TV. Whatever the Designers have planned, some form of
  entertainment plays center-stage, allowing the membership's focus
  to pool around some communal activity as they consume the dinner
  together — a direct parallel to the Hall's entertainments.

• After the Feast, those chosen members who nominated the Designers
  are called upon to testify as to why they believe the member
  deserved to be highlighted that year for their direct
  contributions to the Community. Following their speeches, any
  member who wishes to add a story about any of the Designers is
  welcome to do so.

• The Designers exit the stage, change back into comfortable attire,
  and eat, as a group, their portion of the Feast in a special room
  dedicated for that purpose. The room itself is decorated by the
  Sages prior to Return. Through the room's decoration, Sages are
  encouraged to highlight each Designers' achievements and
  milestones of life, the way a retirement party might.

• While the Designers eat — with Sages and volunteering Community
  members acting as the Designers' servers — the rest of the
  Community works together to tidy up the Community Center, while
  the Eldest Sages oversee the setup / final preparations for the
  grand finale.

• With the finale ready and Designers full, the remaining Community
  comes together to quickly clean up after the Designers — a
  reflection of the work the Designers did throughout the Day,
  returning to them through the Community's efforts. A major part of
  Dancing Day is the ritualized opportunity to actively care for, be
  cared for, and ultimately connect with fellow members.

• The grand finale takes place, and again, at some point afterward (no
  more than a day or two later), the whole Community, including the
  Designers, works in cooperation to complete the day's cleanup.

Rocks Ceremonies and Celebrations:

Retreat (late fall)

Description:

The inherent Power of the Spiral to separate itself as a Rock is
honored by Retreat. As is possible, most Rock Body members, with the
exclusion of special "Node Point Communicator" (NPC) actors, seclude
themselves for the day in silent meditation and fasting. For large
families or Clades, this might mean sectioning their dwelling off into
small "apartments," or places in the home that will "belong" to that
member for the day. Any member who violates the space of another will
be excluded from the ceremony, and barred from participating in the
following year's Retreat (as the Tribe deems appropriate). The night
before Retreat, one acquires food and fine alcohol. During the first
part of Retreat, the member mourns the failures of the previous year,
then transitions into celebrating successes at noon. Finally,
reflecting on their choice of and role in their Clade / Tribe, they
make a vow to themselves, and over the next year, this vow guides them
to more Power on Earth, while serving as their standard of success /
failure for the next year's Retreat. For families with members who
will not participate for any number of reasons, the Rock Body will
provide housing and activities for the duration of Retreat. As is
practical, the sun guides the day, symbolizing how light, in the Novel
Universe Model, is the Host's mechanism of information collection.

Practices:

• Each member may purchase / acquire their special bottle of alcohol /
  food items throughout the year prior to Retreat as they feel
  inspired to do so. If the member has not done so, all purchases
  are made prior to sundown the day before Retreat. At minimum, one
  item must be acquired between the sun's zenith (noon) and sundown
  the evening prior to the ceremony. This act symbolizes the
  transfer of information from Marketplace (the light-filled world
  outside the member's SFS) to Spiral (the member's mind, symbolized
  by "retreating" into the dark of their sleep cycle). If the member
  fails to gather their item(s) or falls asleep, they will skip the
  ceremony, as members must first separate themselves from reality
  (sleep), and remain in seclusion for the duration of a successful
  Retreat.

• For members whose schedules or sleep habits may require it,
  self-exceptions can be made in all aspects of the ceremony's
  performance, and Sages must only be consulted on the final
  schedule by the Lunar Quorum prior to Retreat. In other words,
  Sage-approval is not required for self-exceptions, or any other
  actions taken in one's Spiral. Although Retreat is ideally
  scheduled for the day prior to, or at minimum the week of,
  Exchange Day, this, again, is subject to a self-exception, and
  might be held on one's birthday or other significant date
  throughout the year.

• The evening prior to Retreat, those homes needing to section their
  dwelling into personal spaces have ideally done so, such that each
  member has prepared a space for Retreat, and thus enters this
  space ready to fall asleep.

• When the member wakes in their private space, the vow from the
  previous year is removed from a special cup, designated for the
  ceremony that is not used for any other purpose, and read aloud
  (the only words the member will speak until the end of Retreat).
  The vow is placed back into the cup, and alcohol set aside from
  the previous year is opened. After pouring the alcohol in the cup
  to soak the vow, a generous drink is then taken directly from the
  bottle. For those who choose to abstain from alcohol, the liquor — symbolizing desirable information — must only touch the lips
  to complete the step. The use of substances other than alcohol is
  further encouraged, so long as they prepare the member to spend
  time focused on the ritual and oneself.

• Members mourn their failures until the sun hits its zenith.

• Members celebrate their success until the beginning of sundown.

• Members reflect on their place in their Body of Power as they form a
  new vow.

• Only after the last light of day is gone, the new vow is written
  down, but will not be read aloud.

• A special meal is prepared for consumption, with some amount of the
  previous year's liquor included in the cooking process. If the
  previous year's vow was not met, the meal may not include any
  animal protein. Freemen of Clades with limited resources may need
  to share the space of a kitchen / dining area in order to complete
  the ritual, during which minimal verbal communication is
  acceptable without violating the ritual.

• The old vow is removed from the cup, and the liquor discarded
  without consumption. If the vow was successful, the liquor is
  poured directly onto the ground, preferably a patch of earth,
  symbolizing the spreading of Power; if not successful, it's poured
  down the drain, preferably a toilet or other waste collection
  point, symbolizing the contracting of Power.

• The old vow is lit on fire in the cup, and once the flame is out,
  the new one carefully placed inside the cup over the ashes to
  await the next year's Retreat. The cup is finally set in a place
  of honor next to the new bottle of unopened alcohol.

• In isolation, members consume the bottle of alcohol set aside the
  previous year, either in part or whole, along with the special
  meal to break the fast. For those who abstain, the liquor may be
  sold for profit the following day (Exchange Day). In honor of the
  Marketplace's ability to provide novelty for its users that might
  otherwise be impossible to acquire, any remaining (unsold) alcohol
  from this special bottle is poured onto the ground at the end of
  Exchange Day. Members are encouraged to keep their empty bottles
  from successful years in an honored place. Once the meal has been
  consumed, Retreat ends, the barriers set up in Clades for the
  purposes of isolation are removed, and the silence is lifted.

Exchange Day (the day after Retreat)

Description:

Venerating the Marketplace, Tribes / Clades coalesce either on their
own or at the behest of their Sages in festive celebrations, like a
twenty-first-century product expo on the Las Vegas Strip. Exchange Day
takes place in concert with a high-profile sporting event(s), with all
attractions intended to be for-profit. This is the Novel Universe
Cult's sole, public event, open to all Cult members and the wider
world.

Displays, betting games, contests, and demonstrations of Tribal /
Clade POPs are centered around a hub with an extravagant buffet,
booths with bookies to collect bets, and stations with Sages on-hand
to facilitate new contracts, and arbitrate difficult issues with
contracts that have been unresolved for at least a year. To symbolize
the strength, efficiency, and supremacy of the Marketplace, contracts
created on this day are subject to forced Sage arbitration the
following year if any such unresolved issues remain.

As is the nature of Power and Its Rock Bodies, profit-seeking
activities are not only allowed but encouraged. During Exchange Day,
River Sages provide support and oversight, whereas the Sages function
as needed, filling roles such as intermediaries, advisors, and
attorneys for the Bodies when forming contracts with other Bodies or
outside entities. Rock Bodies are free to negotiate terms over the
coming year, but ultimately, must be approved by the Sages. As with
all aspects of Power, there are costs and rewards. Contracts initiated
on Exchange Day are intended to be high-risk, high-reward — "dream
jobs." If the Body cannot form the desired contract with the outside
entity during the year, by the following Exchange day, the Sages will
have intervened, created a finalized contract with that entity, and on
the coming Exchange Day, have either presented the contract to the
Body to either accept or reject, or will do so at the start of
Exchange Day (a second after midnight). The Body has until midnight to
accept the contract as-is, or the Sages will reject it on their
behalf.

Practices:

• Exchange Day is one, long extravaganza of playing games, betting,
  buying, selling, and creating new contracts with others, both
  inside and outside the Cult.

• The week prior to Retreat, the Rock Body's leadership announces the
  list of NPCs (Node Point Communicator) who forgo both Retreat and
  Exchange Day, and instead, function as the Marketplace's network
  connections. In other words, they're the event's labor force.
  Whether as compensation or punishment, NPCs are selected based
  upon standards spelled out in the Body's Pillars, and no member
  serves consecutive years.

• NPCs spend Retreat setting up the "Marketplace," and may rest only
  when the job is complete. As their only break throughout the two
  days, sleep is encouraged, but not required. If desired, NPCs may
  perform a personal Retreat during the week following or prior to
  Exchange Day, thus following Retreat's fundamental principle of
  self-exception.

• With the rising sun, members gather in small areas attached to the
  Marketplace, where the NPCs have a free, all-you-can-eat breakfast
  buffet waiting. This phase of the Day is private, with no other
  Bodies allowed into the Marketplace, and the cost of the buffet
  paid for by the contributing Bodies hosting the event.

• For the purpose of occupying the membership's attention for the
  first part of the Day, light entertainment plays in the background
  while the members eat — soft music, screens with sporting events,
  magicians, artistic shows, etc.

• Members are summoned into private rooms by Sages, where
  forced-arbitration sessions close out all outstanding contracts
  from the previous Exchange Day. Only a Sage may act as arbiter,
  with the final say as to the state of each contract. All
  non-negotiable fees collected for this service are paid, by the
  members undergoing arbitration, to the Sages. The Sages allocate
  this money to directly pay the vendors of Exchange Day, thus
  assisting the Rock Bodies with the festivities' costs.

• While arbitration is under way, NPCs finalize preparation of the
  central event, including a large buffet, filled with food,
  libations, and such Tribe-approved recreational substances for
  sale.

• Once the sessions are complete, the full venue is opened to the
  public.

• Prior established fees and a set percentage of all revenue is
  collected by the hosting Bodies at the end of the following week
  from those venue participants.

• Any special itinerary, such as concerts, shows, or speeches, is at
  the discretion of the hosting Bodies with Sage approval.

• Exchange Day lasts until the sunrise of the following day. Once
  concluded, the NPCs complete the Day's cleanup, and are finally
  released from their duties.

History

The origin stories of so many religions seem to center
around divine intervention in an inevitable cataclysm. Often, a
mystical entity contacts a man in a forest, cave, or atop a mountain
to warn of this horrible future. The messenger prophesies of a
"savior," a strongman, who will do what humanity is incapable of
doing for itself — avoid disaster and return us to some version of a
mythical arcane utopia by creating peace on Earth.

Unfortunately, for the vast majority of us, this only happens after
the final battle of a holy war between "good and evil" (or some
variation) is won by this prophesied hero and His followers. Despite
mankind's unwavering obsession with war, history never seems to
produce a single one that qualifies as such — is it the man who
incites or the utopia that follows that's insufficient? Going forward,
only the conversion and commitment of the masses to follow the
messenger's commandments has any chance to finally save mankind by
igniting this final conflagration, thus triggering the savior's long
awaited arrival — it's all very dramatic!

Since the Enlightenment's Scientific Revolution changed the quality, quantity, and availability of information, for so many of us, these stories sound less and less persuasive. Here's a radical notion: neither spaceships nor holy visitors are required to comprehend the meaning and purpose of the universe — we, together, can do it for ourselves! The seed for the Novel Universe Cult is this assumption that the truth can be sought through nothing more than an interest in valuable ideas, ideas such as the Tao's linked opposites; Assembly Theory's combined components; Buddha's focus on suffering; Sheldrake's morphic resonance as an early inspiration for understanding emergent coordination; the Biblical afterlife; Wolfram's cellular automata; Levin's bioelectric signaling as scientific grounding for how organisms coordinate form and behavior; or the Greeks' development of panpsychism. On-and-on, humanity's attempts to grasp reality continue to inspire our own.

After studying religion, philosophy, and science, our Founders had
failed to find the meaning of life. So, we delved deeper, searching
out theoretical physics, secret societies, past cults — even the
conspiratorial theories of world history. Still, our attempts to
understand metaphysics and mysticism left us with more questions than
answers:

If the gods are really aliens, and aliens are really evolved
dinosaurs, then is half-man-half-god Jesus a primate-dinosaur hybrid?
And how would the biology of that pregnancy work? Egg, embryo... both?
Is that why it had to happen in a manger, hidden from view? Too many
questions!

Our hinge point came when a pair of independent Near Death
Experiencers each described the functionally identical afterlife of
what we now call Complete Information within the Concert Hall. In
light of the idea that everything in the universe can be deconstructed
as data, we find a mathematical logic to the idea that all the
information created on Earth returns to us, like balancing an equation — data created in life equals data received in death. We imagine this
phenomenon as ripples on a pond's surface, drawn back to the pebble
that created them.

Common ideas such as sin or ascension played no part in the
Experiencers' stories. Instead, they told of information returning
raw, without any preconceived notions of right or wrong. Without good
and evil, there is no plan, no "enlightened" practices to be followed
by the lucky few. A major, logical flaw with most religions is that
too often their holy agenda only applies to humans, those created in
the "image" of this very same entity who revealed the secrets in the
first place. That circular-logic has a nice, tidy ring to it, but
then, how is it that from all the things in the universe, only one
thing on one planet are the only ones who matter? What about dogs,
trees, the very Earth itself? Such narrow frameworks are better
designed to manipulate human behavior than to be an honest attempt at
unveiling the nature of the entire universe. If a religion is to be
true, it must be true for everything, everywhere.

Our core principle of Complete Information evolved into such a solid
model of reality, it changed our lives. Viewed through the novel lens
of Love, our every interaction built a future from a framework steeped
in equal consideration for all involved, as all points of view might
be equally known in our beyond-life. Although we believe reincarnation
is a choice free from constraint, we accept that this may not be true,
and work to prepare ourselves for other outcomes such as samsara — the forced reincarnation of the "soul" based on karma. The Founders
began a campaign to embody this model in various stories, artwork, and
a set of philosophical texts, destined for our potentially
reincarnated selves as a temporal "message in a bottle." We understand
that, even if our model isn't correct, it still reduces suffering by
finally describing a system — based as much on physics as metaphysics — centered by the Golden Rule, but with a vital twist: do unto others
as they would have you do unto them. Living by this model means we
act intentionally, knowing exactly why we treat others the way we do.
We act, not out of some sense of morality or fear of punishment, but
rather a preference of how we might experience in death the Ripples of
our actions in life.

Creating a religion, especially a cult, was not considered until the
founding members were struck by the idea that a religion would be the
perfect "bottle" for our message, and calling ourselves a cult would
not only stand out, but filter through the tedious pantheon of
spiritual variants, and attract those special converts eager to
participate in an avant-garde organization that so clearly cuts
against the grain of established spirituality. Although we readily
admit our Founders' bias for Love, we strive for balance, and seek
converts from both frameworks. So many religions, so much alike,
always seem to focus on one thing: rewarding the faithful. The only
guaranteed reward we offer is a companionship in search of clarity.

As an organization, the Novel Universe Cult has both the capacity to
maintain the philosophy for future generations, but also build
sustainable structures to develop our principles through its unique,
neo-segregated institutions, including the practice of
neural-democracy. The Cult embodies a spiritual conversation, within a
foundation that forever responds to our current environment.
Therefore, our tradition is no tradition at all, except the core idea
of expressing novelty through the mixture of Love & Power.

NUC isn't necessarily about answers, but instead, bringing to light
the segregated frameworks of Love & Power. Unlike other religions, we
do not believe anyone must understand or adopt our message, because,
if the Novel Universe Model is correct, the world will not suffer our
absence — there is no "salvation," no test to be passed, only the
choice of a beyond-life in line with one's preferences. The universe
is as intended, and the world does not need saving. Regardless of who
or what we are in life, in death, we will decide, on our own, which
"heaven" we want. And no worries, our planet's going nowhere soon.
It'll eventually remedy the cancer of industry, whether we survive the
cure or not.

Instead of finding and following some divine path, we propose the
purpose of life is to expose ourselves to choices we might otherwise
not make, allowing us unforeseen experiences we might otherwise not
have — novelty. Thus, the Novel Universe places us in an intentional
state of amnesia, cut off from the knowledge of our complete being,
born into a body of Power, of silence, force, and consumption. With
that in mind, we understand that these ideas may — even if true — be counterproductive for those whose ignorance of the Model creates
value. For instance, those with the most open and conscientious
frameworks have the most to learn from silence, force, and consumption — an education that might only be found by forgetting what's most
salient for them, Love.

We strongly feel that a truth, restricted to the few, would constitute
a massive waste of space, not to mention the untold levels of
pointless suffering. Therefore, it fundamentally cannot be the point
of the universe, but instead, the point must be the experience of
existence itself — something everything does, regardless of status or
state of consciousness. Furthermore, the very search for the
universe's meaning and purpose ultimately does nothing for our eternal
selves — this amnesia, once removed, will awaken us to "secret"
knowledge we'll discover we all already possess. The ultimate twist in
our model is who religion and science actually benefits (see our ToE
section: The Host), and it primarily isn't the seekers themselves. So,
instead of a thrilling, emotional origin story, filled with hidden
treasures and spectacular miracles for the few, we tell of a sensible,
academic discovery that applies to everyone, from particle to planet
and everything in-between.

Prophets, aliens, even scientists? They show up with a sales pitch — some pot of gold at the end of their rainbow, albeit salvation,
self-realization, immortality, or simply endless growth and
prosperity. We do not place our trust in authorities claiming to have
the answers. Instead, we collectively add our voice to a global
conversation with our developing understanding of the Novel Universe.